Zhou Yi focused his attention on the remote control.
The patient trio kept themselves outside the range of the samurai crab patrol, attempting to find a path to bypass the defense line.
When they realized it was impossible, they stopped.
On the screen, only three human figures could be seen, the leader, an enhancer, had a noticeably brighter red glow, but there were no other distinguishing physical characteristics.
Zhou Yi gave the order to activate "Bird's Eye View."
Then, text information appeared over the head of the enhancer.
--- Accompanied by a substantial number of E-class monsters as guards, this person is not ordinary and must be approached with caution.
--- Such a character coming to the godforsaken Mao Valley Town and even starting to construct a camp at this time... Most likely they're here for that thing.
--- We have to take the initiative to strike while they are still unprepared; this is the best opportunity. It's fortunate we brought the latest weapons, handling these monsters shouldn't be a problem.
This person had a gang behind them.
One of the individuals near the enhancer had rather simple thoughts.
--- So sleepy, I really want to go back and hit the hay. Follow current novels on noᴠelfire.net
--- Why hasn't the boss called it a day yet? Today we're not going out to raid, we've come all this way, neither advancing nor attacking... The boss is becoming more and more timid.
Another person's thoughts caught Zhou Yi's full attention.
--- How did Ajin come to know this foreigner?
--- He's single-minded and not the type that knows how to adapt; otherwise, he could have been our insider.
--- Last time I wasn't accurate enough; the spear didn't hit his critical spot. Today I must kill him; this kid must be suspecting me already...
Zhou Yi's gaze sharpened.
This person was a resident of Mao Valley Town.
Zhou Yi immediately called Ajin, who was still covering the box house with grass, to ask about the inside information.
The youth, who had been excited about living in a new house, now had a gloomy expression: "I know, there are raiders in town."
"Mao Valley Town, located in the cave, sure, the Guangna Species never come, but raiders have never shown up either, which is strange in itself."
"They only need to make a move, whether it's setting a fire inside the cave to smoke us out or threatening and blocking the entrance. We could only flee and then be robbed. The townspeople lack combat experience and are short on metal weaponry; we can't fight them."
"But our town has never been raided. Everyone says it's because we're too poor, and the raiders don't want to risk getting hurt by the sharp stones in the cave for a loss."
"When I was a child, I believed that, but later, I found out that whenever people found anything valuable like copper, iron, or gems, or skins cut from the corpses of monsters outside, it would be snatched away immediately. Even if they hid it, they'd be threatened to hand it over."
The youth's face was filled with bitterness: "I'm lucky to have met you this time, Master, otherwise I would probably be dead."
"There are raiders hiding in Mao Valley Town, and many people are acutely aware of it. Now everyone is on guard against each other, fearing that the others might be raiders..."
Zhou Yi sorted through the information.
The raider gang here was adopting a pig-farming strategy; they wouldn't kill the residents of Mao Valley Town outright, preserving the underground market town in the cave. They needed the locals as free labor to collect resources, which they would then pick through and take what was worth their time.
They kept the locals in a numb state, barely able to make ends meet yet difficult to escape.
"One person I'm certain about is missing a tooth. That day you came to town, the one who came to exchange the hat you gave me, he's the one missing a tooth."
Ajin spoke with knitted brows: "Every time we go out at night, the man missing a tooth always disappears quickly. Nobody knows where he goes, and few have seen any trace of him."
"He came to me once, asking if I was willing to rough it out with the hunters, doing the dirty and tiring work, but with the condition of maintaining absolute secrecy. Something felt off to me, so I didn't agree."
"One time, while I was gathering dry manure by the river, I saw the man missing a tooth washing his hands. He didn't notice me and just took off his clothes and switched to another set hidden under a rock. After he left, I went to look and saw the clothes were covered in blood, still warm."
"That day, someone in town was murdered, said to have talked back to a raider and refused to give up something, so they killed him. His head was left at the entrance as a warning to the townspeople."
Zhou Yi now was fairly certain that the enhancer outside had also been brought by the one missing a front tooth.
The target was the Red Kestrel's remote controller.
Since they were enemies, there was no room for discussion.
Years of experience in the Dead Sea had proven that any bit of mercy shown to an enemy would come back as a cruel boomerang to oneself.
Zhou Yi ordered the annihilation of the enemy.
The samurai crabs, always ready for battle in the Dead Sea, rapidly deployed and began to silently flank their prey.
On the screen, 45 green dots carried out a wider and rapid encirclement of the enemy, and by the time the three raiders realized what was happening, they were already engaged in close combat. The fight lasted for 1 minute, and then the three enemy red dots disappeared.
Zhou Yi watched with puzzlement in his heart.
How come the enhancer seemed no stronger than an ordinary person, shattering upon contact?
The Red Kestrel expanded the search area, found no other suspicious life forms nearby, and confirmed that the enemies were all dead.
Only then did Zhou Yi ride over.
Shining his flashlight, he saw three mangled bodies on the ground, all dead from shots by the Poisoned Kitchen Knives. The faces of the three raiders were covered to the end, only their eyes frozen in terror before death were visible.
Zhou Yi lifted the black cloth from their faces.
As expected, one of them was the man missing a front tooth with the Bone Chain around his neck, his complexion was bluish, and his lips parted slightly. Another ordinary person was a bald youth with a fierce face and no eyebrows.
The dead enhancer was a man in his twenties, his countenance was stiff and astonished.
His hair was neatly slicked back as if oiled, he wore a leather jacket, boots, and was wrapped in a brown hemp coat. The man clutched a brass pistol tightly in his hand.
This was a flintlock pistol with a wooden handle and brass fittings; it required the loading of gunpowder and a lead bullet before firing. It wouldn't have been quick enough to draw and shoot in a surprise attack. Being taken out by a samurai crab's poisoned throwing knife was normal.
From this, Zhou Yi thought.
It seemed that this era also had the technology to make firearms. The cave-dwelling lifestyle of Mao Valley Town probably only represented a part of impoverished and backward areas.
The enhancer had carried a leather case with him.
Inside, Zhou Yi found a copper badge, a stack of papers nailed to a baseboard, a piece of charcoal, several oil-soaked cloth packets in a wooden box, a water bottle, a comb, and a rudimentary toothbrush.
He collected these items and returned to the camp by the seaside.
The three bodies were carried off by the samurai crabs and thrown into the Dead Sea.
The Death Light would rapidly decompose the remains and return them to nature.
Sitting on the soft leather sofa in his new quarters, Zhou Yi switched on a portable lamp which provided better illumination but was a drain on the batteries, so it had to be used sparingly.
Under the light, he took out the seized flintlock pistol.
The barrel was inscribed with a Y-shaped mark next to a serial number "19941."
Zhou Yi's knowledge of firearms was limited to various TV shows and games, the only time he had ever handled one had been during military training, and sadly, the instructor had only allowed them to shoot blank rounds, making it quite perfunctory.
He pulled the hammer back and tried pressing the trigger.
A click sounded as the flint fixed to the hammer struck the frizzen.
In his own era, this belonged in a museum as an antique, but now it was a personal weapon of an enhancer.
Zhou Yi then opened those oil-soaked cloth packets, and sure enough, they contained lead bullets. These bullets appeared to be made of lead—they were heavy and somewhat soft, and the cloth casings had two types of markings.
One was marked with a black circle, and the other with a blue circle.
Did they represent two different types of bullets with various functions?
Zhou Yi compared the two types of lead bullets but couldn't see any difference on the surface.
Should he try shooting it?