Chapter 71 Unexpected Disaster

The assembled airboat slid into the branch of the water marsh.

Yu Ke stepped on the branches of the tree that extended to the river surface, and jumped up with his backpack and weapons.

Sitting at the back of the airboat, holding the joystick with his left hand, he turned on the propeller to stir the water.

Moving forward at a slow speed for the time being, bypassing the bushes in the water in front, Yu Ke checked the operation of the equipment according to the instructions.

The propeller runs smoothly and without noise; the indicator light of the airboat joystick is green, and there is no hysteresis when swinging left and right; the camouflage coating on the edge of the airboat is military green, and there is no water or air leakage in the hull.

After the inspection, it was confirmed that everything was normal.

Yu Ke then drove the airboat away from the deep pool in the forest and turned into the branch of the water marsh in front.

The network of Jinghu Water Marsh is spread all over the forest, and its branches are of different widths. Basically, the closer to the core area, the wider and deeper the river channel is. For example, the river channel connected to the deep pool in the forest in the southwest corner is about ten meters wide.

The giant trees on both sides were surrounded by aquatic plants, and the treetops at high places were connected to each other, forming an arch under the gray sky.

Fine snow fluttered down from the gaps, forming a green and white curtain with the drooping vines.

This was a fantastic scene that Yu Ke had never seen before. Unfortunately, under this beautiful appearance, there was a crisis that could bury any living creature, so he dared not be distracted for a moment.

The airboat swept away the dead branches and leaves covering the water surface and kept moving at a constant speed.

Frankly speaking, it was very insecure to move alone in such a deep forest waterway. Any movement nearby and even the ripples created by fish on the water surface would attract Yu Ke's attention.

He didn't know how deep this waterway, which seemed narrow but actually connected the forest pools on both sides, was, and he didn't know whether there was a terrifying water monster infected by Pandora hiding in the dark pool nearby, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on him.

Yu Ke was thankful that the river didn't have too many twists and turns, otherwise it would take him a lot of time just to control the direction.

Now he only needed to control the general direction, so that he could free his hands to extract water samples.

This time it was grayish yellow.

Yu Ke took out a notebook from his pocket and recorded the results on it.

The direction he was heading now should be correct. The degree of infection in the water was getting worse and worse. Even if it wasn't Pandora in front, there should be a monster that was affected and distorted.

Raising the telescope, Yu Ke observed the movement of the nearby water surface.

The current gloomy sky was a good opportunity to find Pandora. Its own strange colors should be extremely conspicuous in this environment, and there was basically no possibility of mistaking it.

Similarly, large clusters of gorgeous flowers would grow on the surface of the distorted beast, which was also easy to find in the woods with gray-green or dark green as the main color.

Every time he drove a certain distance, Yu Ke would stop the airship, stand up, raise the telescope and look around.

Not to mention, the most abundant thing in this Mirror Lake Forest is all kinds of strange things.

He saw a giant tree that was used as a nest by ants, with all kinds of holes and holes made of wet mud from top to bottom; there were yellow-brown water birds that grabbed vines like bats and hung upside down on the water surface disguised as branches, and immediately killed fish or other animals that swam by; there were also lizards with slender and light bodies that could run on the water surface, with their limbs spread wide.

The camera on his chest had been turned on.

Yu Ke collected all kinds of information about the depths of the Mirror Lake Forest to prepare for his future hunting operations.

He paid special attention to some special landforms along the way.

Just like the vine jungle and mushroom communities on the outskirts of the forest, there must be a reason for the formation of special landforms, either hiding some spiritual plants or some special beasts living in them, and these are the resources Yu Ke needs.

The former can enhance his physical fitness in all aspects, and the latter, if he is lucky, can provide skills and characteristics, which are also urgently needed.

For example, the forest area in front of him.

Yu Ke noticed that the types of giant trees and water quality in the forest on the right side of the river had changed significantly.

Unlike the bare-branched trees he had seen along the way, the trees in this area were not only larger in size, but also had thicker branches and thicker branches. The treetops actually still had a lot of green leaves. If you look closely, you can see the sedimented fruits under the leaves.

The key lies in the change in the water quality of the forest. When he got closer, Yu Ke was surprised to find that the pool of water in the forest was constantly bubbling and steaming. It was clearly a hot spring. There was probably geothermal heat or something else that could raise the water temperature.

Yu Ke couldn't understand the principle, but one thing was certain, this environment was obviously against common sense.

Wait.

What was that?

Just as Yu Ke was observing the abnormal area, he was ready to come over and investigate when he had the chance.

Suddenly, several gray-white furry corpses appeared in the field of view of the telescope, drifting from the river ahead.

That alone would be fine. The most abundant thing in Mirror Lake Forest is the corpses of wild animals. What really concerns Yu Ke is the gorgeous flowers on the backs of these corpses. Obviously, they have been infected by Pandora.

Putting down the telescope, Yu Ke turned around and held the joystick to adjust the direction of the airship, keeping a certain distance from the corpses while ensuring that he can observe them.

Pick up a dead branch from the water and stop a corpse.

Its body size is almost the same as that of an adult man. It looks like the corpse of an ape. It has not been long since it died. Blood around the corpse keeps spilling into the water. Many fish and shrimps have come over.

If it is a corpse that has been dead for a long time, it would have been swollen after being soaked in water for a long time.

Yu Ke moved its gray hair and adjusted its position to facilitate further observation and make the leak-filling effective.

Soon, the corresponding information emerged in his mind.

Deformed beast: a monster transformed by the infected wild monkey in the water. It is very good at swimming and is good at attacking from the water.

'It is indeed a deformed beast. '

The speculation in his mind was verified. Yu Ke roughly counted and there were five corpses here.

Now the question is how did they die?

A hunting group passing by, a beast nearby, or...

Half squatting on the edge of the airship, Yu Ke used a dry branch in his hand to push aside the hair on the back of one of the wild monkeys. There were several scratches deep enough to see the bone, which were undoubtedly the real fatal wounds.

"Killing with one blow, this method is fierce enough, but they hunted so many monkeys, why not eat them?"

His eyes swept over several other corpses nearby. Without exception, there was no obvious limb mutilation. The beasts that hunted them had no tendency to prey at all. This was pure killing, or elimination!

This phenomenon made Yu Ke subconsciously think of what happened outside the Mirror Lake Forest.

The Shadow Moon Leopard was frantically hunting various infected and deformed beasts at that time. So there should be similar beasts in the depths of the Mirror Lake Forest.

In the interval of thinking, Yu Ke's eyes unconsciously patrolled around.

Suddenly, the sound of branches falling to the ground sounded in his ears, and he turned back to check the situation.

The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his body was ready to fight, clenching the sharp-toothed longbow in his hand.

On a low-hanging branch about ten meters away, the Shadow Moon Leopard, whom he had seen once before, lurked here at some point, and his red eyes had already locked onto Yu Ke!

Its fur was wet, and it looked like it had just swam, clinging to its body, making it look rather embarrassed.

The moment they looked at each other, Yu Ke was sure that this Shadow Moon Leopard must be the guy who had hunted the mutants on the outskirts of the Mirror Lake Forest not long ago.

Yu Ke never thought that he would actually meet it in such a place.

It seemed that its hunting range was far beyond Yu Ke's imagination. In order to hunt those mutants infected by Pandora, it even went to the depths of the Mirror Lake Forest.

The two sides were in a standoff.

Yu Ke, who was in the water river, did not want to conflict with the Shadow Moon Leopard.

On the one hand, the Shadow Moon Leopard itself is doing something beneficial to the Mirror Lake Forest, and the goals of the two at this stage are actually highly overlapping.

Yu Ke has no psychological burden on hunting fierce beasts.

But this fierce beast willing to run around to save the Mirror Lake Forest inevitably makes him hesitate.

On the other hand, it is because the current environment really cannot exert its strength.

Whether it is Yu Ke or the Shadow Moon Leopard, they actually do not have the ability to fight in close combat in the water and river channels, and they are restricted in fighting.

The former can only rely on a bow and arrow, but the Shadow Moon Leopard is not the poacher last night. It is somewhat unrealistic to use a long-range sniper to kill the Shadow Moon Leopard that comes and goes like the wind and can also attack in the shadow.

If it were so easy, the Forest Defense Bureau patrol team would have succeeded long ago.

At least Yu Ke does not want to waste the few arrows here, and it seems that the Shadow Moon Leopard has no intention of attacking. Its current target is those deformed beasts, not humans.

Maybe it is the right choice to leave each other like this?

Yu Ke thought so in his heart, and touched the joystick with his right hand, ready to retreat first.

Now is not the time for them to fight.

The distance between the man and the leopard kept getting longer and longer. Just when Yu Ke thought the crisis was over, several rapid roars came from the direction where the corpse had drifted down before, followed by another noisy roar.

Yu Ke's expression was a little confused at first, and then his face changed suddenly.

Monkeys are social animals. The Shadow Moon Leopard hunted several infected wild monkeys, which would inevitably attract the siege of the monkey group. And the monkey group that can survive in such a place is definitely not an easy existence to get along with.

No wonder the Shadow Moon Leopard looks a little embarrassed

Damn it, what should I do?

The Shadow Moon Leopard appears here, and the monkey group will come here soon. When they see Yu Ke, an outsider, they may regard him as a target for venting their anger, but he is still on a boat.

The river is so wide, and the airboat is too big to hide at all.

Moreover, judging from the information provided by the leak-filling team, these monkeys are very good at swimming. If they overturn the boat, how can we continue to explore Pandora?

No, we must immediately dock and find a place to hide.

As long as the propeller of the airboat is turned off, it will be a dead object. If we break some dead branches to cover it, it is likely that we can get away with it.