Chapter 71: The Giant Python Blocks the Path

This time, "Miracle" and "Madman" joined forces for a collection mission, deploying a total of five vehicles. Tang Mubai and Yang Kai shared one, while Lin Huafeng and his team members occupied the other four.

The five modified vehicles formed a small convoy, traveling at a steady pace and arriving first at the domain wall. Everyone disembarked for inspection.

Tang Mubai controlled the "Blood King Pearl," keeping his blood energy level at around 25 Calories. He had tested this several times at home, settling on this value. During his last inspection, his blood energy measured at 22 Calories; in just a few days, it had "increased" by 3. Though this exceeded ordinary standards, it was still within acceptable limits. After all, with sufficient resources—ferocious beast meat, giant insect meat, blood energy pills—consumed freely, and with quality martial arts training, it was normal for blood energy to increase quickly in the early stages.

Thus, Tang Mubai passed the inspection safely and returned to the vehicle. The convoy set off again, the five modified vehicles rolling out from the domain wall in a grand procession.

Outside the domain wall, the first fifty kilometers were still considered a safe zone. Along the gravel road, crushed countless times by vehicles, military outposts could be seen from time to time. Occasionally, drones flew overhead, scouting the forests. It wasn't that the military or domain government lacked capability or ambition to expand the safe zone; the domain wall was simply too long, its coverage vast. Ensuring safety within fifty kilometers outside the wall was already the military's limit.

With no other concerns, Tang Mubai's convoy sped up considerably within the safe zone. Once they exited, Lin Huafeng immediately instructed over the intercom to reduce speed. The road was no longer a highway, but a wild expanse filled with grass, rubble, and sand.

The five vehicles, their chassis elevated, crawled slowly across the wilderness. Compared to their previous real-combat assessment—where the destination, "Insect Mountain," lay right at the edge of the safe zone—this time, the convoy was deep in the wilds. Along the way, they continuously encountered bones, abandoned vehicles, and massive beast skeletons strewn across the ground.

The brutal, savage, and bloody scenes struck Tang Mubai and Yang Kai with a sudden shock. Tang Mubai, his willpower at level 5, was largely unaffected. Yang Kai, however, turned pale and trembled slightly. Tang Mubai considered letting him stop so he could take over driving, but Yang Kai gritted his teeth and refused. He stopped looking at the scenery and focused solely on the vehicle ahead from the "Madman" mercenary group, tailing it closely.

This method worked surprisingly well; slowly, Yang Kai recovered his composure.

Just then, Lin Huafeng called for a halt over the intercom.

Yang Kai immediately braked, stopping right behind the lead vehicle.

"Uncle Lin, what's wrong?" Tang Mubai, buckled in, picked up the intercom and asked.

"There's a beast blocking the road ahead. Let's wait a bit," Lin Huafeng replied.

A beast blocking the road?

Tang Mubai was surprised. "What kind of beast? It's blocking the road here? Can't we just kill it?"

"We certainly could," Lin Huafeng replied, "but this double-tailed patterned python is quite formidable, likely at the peak of the elite level. If we fight it, victory would come at a cost."

Tang Mubai pondered.

"A double-tailed patterned python? At the peak of the elite level?"

The beast blocking their way was a python equivalent to a human professional at their peak. Moreover, it had two tails.

Curiosity piqued, Tang Mubai had Yang Kai open the sunroof. He unbuckled, grabbed his bow and arrows, climbed out of the cab, and stood atop the vehicle.

Scanning the distance, he saw, some two hundred meters ahead, a black-brown patterned python as thick as a water tank and fifty to sixty meters long sprawled across the ground.

Compared to Earth’s reticulated pythons, this one not only had two tails but was covered in dense scales. Its black-gold hue gleamed dazzlingly under the sunlight.

Its massive body lay straight across the path, with only its bifurcated tails visible—no head in sight—blocking the way.

"Uncle Lin, is this thing dead?" Tang Mubai marveled, then asked in confusion.

It lay on the road like a corpse, an odd sight.

"No, it's not dead," Lin Huafeng replied. "Most likely, it has just eaten and is now digesting."

Digesting?

Tang Mubai focused his gaze on the python's belly, noticing a pronounced bulge there.

Like most snakes, after swallowing prey, it wouldn't move for some time.

"How long will it take?" Tang Mubai wondered how much the python had eaten and how fast it could digest, watching it for a moment before asking.

"Quickest would be two hours," Lin Huafeng sighed.

"Two hours?" Tang Mubai exclaimed. "If we wait here for two hours and then head to the 'Safety Fortress' you mentioned, it'll be dark by then, won't it?"

"Exactly. So we need to choose a method," Lin Huafeng sighed. "First, we can take a detour. Second, we can find bait."

"I get detouring, but what do you mean by finding bait?" Tang Mubai asked, puzzled. "Hasn't the double-tailed patterned python just eaten? How could bait tempt it?"

Most beast data had been catalogued by humans for reference. For example, Tang Mubai had immediately recognized the blue-scaled sticky bug previously. But he'd never seen this double-tailed patterned python before—likely because its data hadn't yet been collected, or if it had, it hadn't been officially catalogued.

In any case, unsure, Tang Mubai naturally needed clarification.

Lin Huafeng didn't hide anything. "Ordinary pythons rarely attack after eating, but this double-tailed patterned python is different. With two tails, it's currently digesting to replenish energy for one, but the other is still 'empty.' If prey appears nearby, it'll still attack!"

"I see," Tang Mubai realized. "In that case, we definitely need bait!"

"Alright, let's go with the bait plan," Lin Huafeng said over the intercom. "Pei Feng, you and Gao Ren, search the woods on the right for prey and bring it back quickly to lure the python away."

"Understood."

"Got it."

Two voices responded over the intercom.

"I'll go too," Tang Mubai quickly offered.

"No need," Lin Huafeng replied at once. "You stay put. Those two are more than enough—they're experts at finding bait."

"Well... I'll leave it to them, then," Tang Mubai said after a moment's thought, not insisting.

"You're welcome."

"We're off!"

Two voices came from the intercom, one calm, the other cold.