Chen Shanshan and the others had already woken up early.
Because Lin Feng had consumed four points of Life Value in one breath, he was feeling somewhat weak and was sleeping soundly.
It was not until Chen Shanshan let out a joyful exclamation that the man snoring lightly on the lower bunk yawned awake and slowly opened his eyes.
He saw Ding Yi sitting at the foot of the bed, mending the combat suit, and Chen Shanshan fiddling with the Armor-Piercing Horn Bow in her hands.
The gasp of amazement had come from Chen Shanshan's mouth.
Lin Feng drank a sip of water, then glanced at the time. It was already five in the early daytime.
On the wasteland, day was called daytime, and the latter half of the day without night was referred to as daytime.
This was a world of endless daylight.
Although most Deserters didn't have much sense of time, it was said that the residential area of the Oasis Upper Class had an artificial night, with precise timing.
Their work and rest schedules were healthier, their skin fairer, just like the priest seen on Holy Spring Day; among the row of priests, only Father Su, who managed Holy Spring Village, had slightly darker skin, making it easy for Lin Feng to recognize from afar.
The biological clocks of ordinary Deserters and Evolvers were all in disarray, which negatively impacted hormone secretion and Spirit, speeding up bodily aging.
This was one of the reasons Chen Shanshan had bought an alarm clock back then.
Without the night, the intermittent sleep was actually greatly limited in restoring Spirit, and chaotic schedules made waking up after sleep easy to feel fatigued.
For instance, at this moment, Lin Feng, after sleeping for a long ten hours and waking up bleary-eyed, felt he hadn't slept enough even though it was already five in the early daytime.
"This Horn Bow is almost optimized to the limit. Every time you pull the full bow now, it causes some wear. At most, you can shoot all five Wolf Fang Arrows in your quiver; after that, the performance will be affected."
Lin Feng reminded, adding a sentence:
"When you have money, go to the shop in Nongzhuang Village and buy a pair of Horse Horns from an Advanced Rock-Horned Horse to reinforce it."
Chen Shanshan carefully touched the bowstring and pulled slightly, only pulling it halfway before letting go. She nodded with satisfaction:
"I used six to seven tenths of my strength and could pull a half bow. This bow can only be fully drawn by a Level 9 Enhanced Person, even you would struggle."
"With the Wolf Fang Arrowhead, I have the confidence to severely injure even a Level 9 Desolate Wolf with one hit."
As a carnivorous creature, the Desert Wolf was a high-attack, low-defense Mutated Desolate Beast. As long as the Wolf Fang Arrowhead hit, it could easily shatter bones and penetrate the body.
A damage of up to forty points was already the Life Value upper limit of Level 7 Enhanced beings.
No problem in severely injuring a Level 9 Desolate Wolf with one hit.
Lin Feng nodded. It was clear Chen Shanshan was tempted and planning to accept Li Hu's invitation to hunt the Desert Wolf Pack together and complete the bounty order.
After carefully storing the precious Horn Bow, Chen Shanshan then spoke about the serious matter:
"How confident are you in dealing with the Desert Wolf Pack?"
Lin Feng looked at the end of the bed, where Ding Yi had already finished sewing the cooling fan into the combat suit and was fixing the rubber circuit with fine thread to prevent disconnection.
Without answering Chen Shanshan's question directly, he instead asked about the steel shield they had bought before leaving:
"Can the iron shield withstand the attack of Desert Wolves? One hundred kilograms is too big and heavy, unsuitable for carrying during a chase."
Chen Shanshan shook her head and explained:
"Actually, that's prepared for Ding Yi and them. In the hunt to defeat the wolf pack, other Desert Wolves might circle around to attack them."
"The tricycle's reinforced iron shell project has only a thickness of three to four millimeters. It's not that we're saving money, but the vehicle itself can't support more."
"A total of about ten square meters of armor, weighing five hundred pounds, already exceeds what our five people and gear can carry, coming to over a ton. Even if it can be ridden, it won't go far."
Lin Feng furrowed his brow, feeling a bit pessimistic upon hearing this:
"The Desert Wolf's iron claws are four to five centimeters deep, plus seven to eight centimeters long Fine Steel Wolf Fangs. Such thin armor isn't much in their face."
"What are the stats on those steel shields?"
Chen Shanshan directly brought one over, and the Liu Family Siblings who had just woken up gathered around.
Holding the rectangular Curved Iron Shield in her hand, Chen Shanshan introduced:
"Height of 1.8 meters, width of 80 centimeters, average thickness of one centimeter of steel plate, weighing about 110 kilograms. Although it can't withstand the fangs of a late-stage Desolate Wolf, the curved structure leaves no grip for the Wolf Fang, and their iron claws, without strong jaw muscles, can't scratch this steel shield in a short time."
Lin Feng nodded, taking it to weigh in his hand. It wasn't light, but unfortunately, the structure was too simple, just an iron plate with a welded iron handle at the back, all iron blocks.
Showing White Quality material, it couldn't be upgraded.
"This is only suitable for standing firm against wolf pack ambushes. To complete the bounty order and defeat the entire wolf pack, you must go on long pursuits, chasing down fleeing Desert Wolves..."
"Is there a way to make the Desert Wolves take the initiative to attack?"
The task requirement was ten Desert Wolf corpses, among which three needed to be Level 9 wolf corpses.
The difficulty level was not small at all.
Even Lin Feng didn't dare to easily venture into danger, as chasing the wolf pack could quickly turn from hunter to hunted.
If they could attract the wolf pack on its own, like last time when they were followed and the distance was less than a hundred meters apart, Lin Feng, sitting in the back of the tricycle, could aim and shoot, severely injuring multiple Desert Wolves.
Upon hearing Lin Feng's concern, Chen Shanshan sighed:
"Don't worry, only in this matter will Li Hu and the others have it resolved well. Don't worry."
Hearing that they had a way, Lin Feng's lips curled into a smile.
He patted the revolver at his waist:
"Then I have no issues, at least ninety percent certainty."
"The current issue is, once the mission is completed, how do we split the spoils?"
"That guy Li Hu, his apparent revenge is all fake, his real obsession is with the Evolution Agent. That extra reward of the Evolution Agent is his true goal."
Chen Shanshan took a deep breath:
"Let's discuss that when we meet them."
Then she turned her head to look at the Liu Family siblings standing at the door:
"What are your thoughts?"
Liu Mingfei was somewhat indecisive. He had just become a Level 9 Enhanced Person by luck, and his combat experience and equipment were far behind that of Li Hu, the leader of a top-tier team, and even behind Chen Shanshan.
He definitely couldn't handle a Level 9 Desolate Wolf, and even a late-stage Level 7 or Level 8 Desolate Wolf would be challenging.
His sister, Liu Qian, spoke up proactively:
"Li Hu's team's losses were severe, which forced them to seek our cooperation. And although he was injured, he stayed on the second floor of the Hunting Wilderness Guild, really looking for a suitable target."
"It was perfect timing when they met Lin Feng and saw our team's overall strength rise a notch, plus our small numbers could just fill the gap in their core strength."
"I'm more concerned about whether Li Hu will keep his promise than hunting Desolate Wolves, because even if he talks big, once he becomes an Evolver, he and we Deserters will be from two different worlds..."
"Even if both parties reach an agreement, we need to prepare a backup plan to prevent Li Hu from betraying us at the last minute."
Lin Feng nodded, fully agreeing:
"Exactly, so the key is to seize the corpse of the Level 9 Desolate Wolf at that time."
"We should put in as little effort as possible to avoid injury."
Chen Shanshan then looked at Liu Mingfei; besides her and Lin Feng, he was the only one left with combat power here.
Liu Mingfei hesitated a bit, got nudged twice by Liu Qian, and finally nodded, agreeing to cooperate.
Chen Shanshan clapped her hands together:
"Alright, it's decided then!"
"We'll have breakfast first, then find Li Hu for a detailed discussion on the hunting process."
After the discussion, everyone simply ate some jerky.
During this time, Ding Yi finally completed the assembly and sewing of the Exhaust Wind Combat Suit. Wearing her new glasses, she was tired, her eyes strained, and her hands sore.
She carefully and cautiously sewed the precious flexible photovoltaic panels into the combat suit's back layer, fixed them with a frame around, and added a cross strip in the middle to lock it.
This way, the fragile surface of the photovoltaic panel wouldn't be damaged.
Lin Feng took the clothes, praising and thanking her repeatedly.
Ding Yi's face lit up with a happy smile, as she personally helped Lin Feng put it on. After confirming it fit well, she carefully took off her glasses, placed them in a wooden box, and fell into a deep sleep.
Lin Feng walked to the car's rear under the sun, and as the photovoltaic panel came into contact with sunlight, it began supplying electricity to the motor of the exhaust fan.
A buzzing noise arose; one fan blew out air while another sucked it in, and the once-hot and sweaty combat suit quickly cooled down with the heat absorbed from the evaporating sweat.
However, the current was unstable, with the fan blades spinning at varying speeds, seemingly on the verge of breaking down.
Lin Feng glanced out of the corner of his eye:
"Exhaust Wind Combat Suit lv6, White Quality"
"Basic Attributes: Defense 10, Durability 6/10; can consume 1 point of Life Value for an upgrade"
"Extra Attributes:
Photovoltaic Panel: Severely aged, Durability 4/10, low power generation efficiency, no energy reserves
Cooling Fan: Copper wires rusting, low energy conversion rate, no switch gear adjustment"
"Evaluation: A cobbled together Exhaust Wind Combat Suit, with new fabric, but the photovoltaic panel and motor severely aged, affecting overall durability, recommended for upgrade and improvement; with all considered, it can reduce body surface temperature by 5°."
Indeed, no business without deceit.
The Dawn Store's one-legged boss donned glasses, looking cultured and honest, yet all he sold were some trash goods.
Fortunately, Lin Feng still had the upgrade option, directly consuming one point of Life Value to initiate the suit's upgrade.
Meanwhile, he added a brand mark, choosing comprehensive optimization to first enhance the overall performance.
With the help of the Exhaust Wind Combat Suit, Lin Feng would be fully confident in the hunt for the Desert Wolf Pack this time.
Soon, after breakfast, Chen Shanshan and the others set out immediately, heading to Li Hu's location.
Following the leader's step, they arrived at the motor inn where Li Hu stayed, similar to Boss Huang's, it was a small bus.
But Li Hu's team was luxurious enough to rent the whole vehicle, with eight compartments, each having someone living in it.
When the wounded team member at the back of the car saw Lin Feng and the others approaching, he called for the captain.
Li Hu walked out from his private compartment, filling up the aisle all by himself.
He then greeted Lin Feng and the others with a warm smile:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"