Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Descent of the Crimson Pillar (Part Two)

The two men were startled when a large trunk suddenly appeared from behind the rocks.

"Damn... I thought it was something else..."

The survivor who was using a dagger to cut the tendrils of the Y plant let out a sigh of relief when he saw the big trunk. He had feared it was some dangerous dinosaur, but fortunately, it was only an Oligocene elephant that emerged.

"Hold on!" The man bound by the Y plant suddenly noticed something odd about the elephant: "Why does that pig have a saddle on its back..."

The presence of a saddle meant this Oligocene elephant was being ridden by someone. Not good—there were others nearby!

But by the time he realized this, it was already too late.

While their attention was drawn to the big trunk, Qin Fei sprang from the shadows, unleashing a blast at the survivor who wasn’t bound by the Y plant.

Bang!

Perhaps because he was in a hurry, the man wore no armor. Combined with the element of surprise and the close range, Qin Fei killed him with a single shot.

Seeing his companion fall, the survivor bound by the Y plant shouted anxiously, "Wait! I—"

Bang!

Qin Fei didn’t give him a chance to say anything more, firing another shot at him.

Then, he finished off the raptor's head with a round as well. Qin Fei had wiped out the small survivor squad—two men and a raptor—in one swift action.

At the same time, the elimination notifications for the two deaths appeared in the sky.

Now, fewer than ten survivors remained on the island.

After killing the two, a pile of supplies dropped beside their bodies.

Qin Fei gathered everything from the ground except the minerals, stowing them in his backpack.

He had come out this time to retrieve an airdrop, bringing only about ten kilograms of items to leave enough space in his pack.

Thus, the remaining carrying capacity was more than sufficient to haul back all these spoils in one trip.

From shooting to collecting the loot, Qin Fei spent less than a minute in total.

After gathering the supplies, he mounted the big trunk and trotted away from the scene.

He found a concealed spot on the mountainside to hide and began sorting through the spoils he had just acquired.

[Empty Cryo Pod x2: Can hold tamed creatures. When reopened, the creature can be released again.]

[Cryo Pod cooldown: 6 hours; Current charge: 29d 16h. Storing pods below zero degrees recharges them.]

Qin Fei was overjoyed.

He hadn’t expected to obtain such a handy artifact from the Ark—cryopods! And he got two at once.

These cryopods were likely acquired by the two survivors from the red airdrop atop the mountain.

Cryopods were only palm-sized.

Their effect was virtually the same as in the game.

---

Their function was much like a Poké Ball. Survivors could use cryopods to instantly store any tamed dinosaur by their side.

This made carrying them around much more convenient.

When a creature was stored in a cryopod, its size didn’t matter; no matter how large, it could fit inside.

However, each cryopod could only hold one creature.

Cryopods also had other limitations.

For example, the cooldown time.

Within six hours, a survivor could only deploy one creature from a cryopod.

If forced to release a second or third creature within a short period, those released later would suffer from cryosickness and remain unconscious for six hours before waking.

Besides the cryopods, Qin Fei had also seized three pieces of useful equipment.

These were night vision goggles, diving fins, and a metal shield.

There were also several dinosaur saddle blueprints.

[Devil Frog Saddle Blueprint: Requires 300g of chitin, plant fiber, cement 100g.]

[Pteranodon Saddle Blueprint: Requires 100g of chitin, 200g of wood, 100g of plant fiber.]

[Tyrannosaurus Rex Saddle Blueprint: Requires 2000g of iron, 2000g of wood, 300g of hide.]

Saddles not only stabilized survivors when riding dinosaurs, but also served as armor for the dinosaurs.

The Pteranodon saddle blueprint was just what Qin Fei needed, a fortunate find.

While Qin Fei was examining these items, voices sounded from not far away.

"Over here!"

Qin Fei noticed five survivors with a torch at the foot of the mountain, making their way up toward him.

All five carried firearms.

There were four men and one woman in the group.

The woman was riding a Parasaurolophus.

In the torchlight, Qin Fei could vaguely see the word "Baili" written in red paint on the dinosaur's saddle.

Baili...

The name sounded like an organization or a team.

Qin Fei was a bit surprised.

He hadn’t expected the red airdrop to draw five people at once—especially since they were acting as a team.

With fewer than ten survivors remaining on the island, nearly half were now gathering here.

Moreover, the Ark’s PVP battle mode limited each team to no more than three members.

In other words, at most three people could survive to the end of this PVP melee. These five would inevitably have to fight each other...

---

Thus, the five-person group’s alliance was liable to betrayal at any moment.

Qin Fei wondered...

How did these people manage to band together? Were they not afraid of being stabbed in the back?

The Parasaurolophus at the center of the group let out a howl. The woman riding it pointed directly at Qin Fei’s location.

The group began moving toward him.

Had they already discovered him?

Qin Fei frowned.

It wasn’t surprising; in the Ark world, Parasaurolophus had remote tracking abilities.

With five working together, even with the help of Y plant traps, Qin Fei was no match for them.

As for running...

Descending the mountain was out of the question. The five were at the base, and if Qin Fei ran into them head-on, he would surely die.

Eggy wasn’t with him either, so he couldn’t just fly away.

Qin Fei scanned his surroundings. He was halfway up the mangrove mine, at a high elevation. He could try escaping with his glider...

Using the glider was the optimal choice now.

Seeing the five approaching, Qin Fei equipped the glider onto his military armor.

He also used the cryopod to store the big trunk.

After glancing at the group below, Qin Fei leapt from the mangrove mine.

With the glider’s help, he traced an arc through the air, heading swiftly toward the swamp...

"There’s someone up there!"

The five spotted Qin Fei gliding overhead at the same time.

"After him!"

One of them whistled.

Moments later, a massive eagle, four or five meters tall, flew over to join them.

It was an Argentavis from the Ark world.

Aside from being slower than a Pteranodon, the Argentavis outperformed the pterosaur in every other attribute. Its huge size, endurance, long flight time, and impressive carrying capacity made it formidable.

Once the eagle landed, the whistler mounted its back and had the eagle lift a companion in its claws.

The two and their eagle took off in pursuit of Qin Fei’s escape route.