Rifle charge in Ark, but without a mount

"Food and water are fine. I can give you a month's supply. But if you want a vehicle, this money is not enough. You need another one."

"I can give you half of it, otherwise I don't want it."

"Deal, pay now."

Then Tang Ke looked at the woman in front of him in surprise, pinched a gold bar in half with two fingers, and handed one half to him, which completely extinguished some of the inappropriate thoughts in his mind.

"Everything is ready for you in the backyard, go get it yourself."

The Vaifan woman in front of him turned and left without any hesitation.

Just two minutes after she left, Tonk looked coldly at the looters who had hurriedly stood up, feeling a little sorry for these brain-shortened idiots, after all, they would never come to drink again.

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The old Originium engine blew out two puffs of thick smoke like an old man, coughed a few times, and finally started up. The package full of food and water was tied to the back seat, and the young woman was ready to embark on her journey again.

The tire that had just been inflated was rolling on the gravel ground. She had just driven 2 kilometers when a sharp whistle suddenly came from the mountain next to her, and then several figures on motorcycles appeared. The young traveler couldn't help but frown. She knew someone was following her. But the old machine couldn't speed up, and they still caught up with her.

Bad news always comes one after another. The Originium engine began to malfunction again, and a loud noise came out of it. After a while, it could no longer start, and her mount had no choice but to slowly stop next to a stone.

The looters' motorcycles surrounded her, and the crossbows in their hands were aimed at her. She didn't say anything, only the looters' excited noises could be heard.

"Bang!" The sound of the crossbow arrow being released by the release mechanism was extremely loud. These looters had no interest in negotiation at all, or they were more willing to loot the other party's corpses.

In an instant, he stretched out his hand like lightning and grabbed the crossbow arrow, making it stay in front of his eyes and unable to move forward. With a slight force of two fingers, he broke the hollow alloy crossbow arrow into two parts from the middle.

"It seems that we must teach these guys a lesson today." Saria was rarely annoyed.

"Grit your teeth."

She clenched her fists tightly, and just when she was about to take action, suddenly a dark shadow brushed past them, making them look around in surprise.

"what!!!!!"

The shrill scream startled the raiders, and they turned around to find that one of their companions behind them had his head on the ground, and his motorcycle was nowhere to be found.

Just as they were still in confusion, a violent engine roar suddenly sounded from the side. When they turned their heads, they saw a familiar black shadow passing by again, piercing the two predators on the lance. This time they finally saw the attacker clearly. It was a black knight who rode on his companion's motorcycle and pierced the two predators with the lance in his hand at a very fast speed.

The lance in his hand turned slightly, and the two bodies fell to the ground. Claude drove this crudely made motorcycle and felt a rare sense of control. Although he had to use one hand to control the machine, the speed of this motorcycle was far beyond his reach.

With the help of powerful kinetic energy, the sturdy and sharp spears in his hands easily tore their bodies into pieces. After several consecutive attacks, the plunderers were quickly defeated. The crossbows in their hands were far behind Claude's speed. And now, they couldn't even escape because Claude had the same speed as them.

Catch up with the fleeing looters and kill them one by one with the spears in your hands or the javelins behind your waist. Enemies in a state of fleeing will hardly have the courage to fight back, as they will only think about running faster than their companions. Those who can fight back in a state of fleeing are all experienced soldiers.

The lance tore a huge gash in the side of the last enemy, and his body fell to the ground, with bloody internal organs constantly oozing out of the huge wound on his waist.

The motorcycle swung in an arc on the sand. Claude supported it with his right foot, then started it again and drove towards the traveler he saw when he came.

"Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Of course no problem, thank you very much for your help." A firm and cold voice came into Claude's ears.

"Then ma'am, please be careful. I'll be leaving first." Claude wanted to start the motorcycle again and leave here, but this shoddy machine had reached its limit. No matter how hard Claude tried, he couldn't start it again.

He twisted the power switch again, but a disturbing piercing noise came out, and then a puff of black smoke came out of the engine. Claude looked awkwardly at the locomotive that suddenly broke down. Just as he was about to do something, an almost identical piercing noise came from the side. He looked up and saw that the traveler's locomotive engine was also emitting black smoke. The two looked at each other, and the current situation seemed extremely delicate.

“It’s really not durable.”

"really."

Then the two of them fell into awkward silence again, and no one took the initiative to speak.

This awkward situation continued until Xinteleya drove their SUV over. Claude turned around and walked towards his SUV, took out some maintenance tools from the back of the car, and then walked to the side of the traveler.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a look."

The other party did not speak, but stepped aside from the motorcycle. Claude certainly did not have any advanced maintenance skills, but after all, he had been exposed to it for so long. He still had ways to deal with some basic problems, otherwise their off-road vehicle would have broken down in the wilderness long ago.

But unfortunately, this is obviously not a basic problem. After opening the engine cover and seeing the severely worn parts inside, Claude had to admit that he was powerless. Without replacement parts, no matter how skilled the craftsman is, he can't do anything.

"Ma'am, this car can't be repaired anymore. Where are you going? We can give you a ride if it's on your way."

"I'm going to Rustwater."

"We also happen to be going there to restock supplies. If you don't mind, you can take our car."

"Okay, sorry to bother you guys."

………………

Claude looked at the blood that soaked his gauntlet. The blood had seeped into the leather of the gauntlet and was now emitting an unpleasant odor. This was of course common to Claude, but if conditions allowed, he would also like to clean his armor. There was already a lot of blood on it.

The passenger who got on the bus halfway was sitting in the back seat and said nothing. He did not take the initiative to talk to them. He looked very cold. Claude took out the maintenance tool from the small bag on his back and used the iron stick inside to dig out the blood stains in the gap of the spear. This work must be done immediately after the fight, otherwise it will be difficult to clean, and it will also corrode the weapon and reduce its service life.

Just as Claude was about to wipe it again with cotton cloth, a heroic voice suddenly sounded.

"Sir, are you a knight of Casimir? I see you are very good at using a lance."

"I am indeed from Casimir, but I am not a knight of Casimir. I am just an ordinary traveler." Claude turned around and looked at the tall woman. She was obviously a Vaifan. The Vaifan race was widely distributed throughout the world and could be seen in almost every country. Although there were not too many people, they were famous for their amazing physical strength.

"What's your name, young lady?"

"It's better for you not to know my name. It might cause trouble."

"I understand." Claude understood. It seemed that this woman was probably being hunted, so she said that. In this chaotic land, such things can be seen everywhere, and many people are deeply trapped in them.

"Miss, it's a miracle that your motorcycle can start. Judging from the wear and tear inside, it has been used for at least several decades. Such a low-quality means of transportation will suffer a great loss here."

"I originally used that thing as a disposable item. I just hope he can take me to Rustwater Town. Then, I can find a better quality vehicle."

"My time is very tight. I absolutely cannot delay here any longer."

"Is that so, young lady? I have a suggestion for you. You can hide your tail. It is too conspicuous here and can be easily found by others."

"I will seriously consider it."

A New Beginning: Reflections on the Launch

In the blink of an eye, a month has passed, and the first book written by this pure newbie author will be released tomorrow. To be honest, I feel a little guilty about releasing it. Because I have been preparing for exams during this period, I have very little time to write books every day, and basically I can only update at night.

Before writing this book, I mainly stayed at home. My parents couldn't stand it anymore and asked me to find something to do, so I wanted to give it a try. But I didn't expect to get a lot of support from everyone, and I also had the confidence to continue writing. This is my first time writing a book, and my writing style is still very immature. There are many places that I don't understand. So if there are mistakes in the process of writing the book, I will basically modify them. You can refresh the chapters.

Before, I was not very good at typing. I could only type more than 2000 words in a few hours. Recently, I have gradually improved and can type about 4000 words in two hours. I will get faster and faster in the future, and the amount of updates should also increase.

I still have no confidence in myself when I say this. I always feel that I will be killed as soon as it is put on the shelves (；′⌒`). But as the first book written by the author, I still want to finish it well. The author has been playing Ark for a long time, and has dozens of 1-star characters. I have a little understanding of it. So I will ensure that the quality of the work will not decline in the next update, so if possible, please support it.

I heard from other authors that they will update a lot after the work is put on the shelves, but I have an exam on the 6th, so I probably won’t be able to update a lot on the day it is put on the shelves. But I will definitely make up for it on the 7th, please trust me.

I'm still very nervous─Ｃε(┬n┬)3, okay, that's basically it.

A New Beginning: Chapter 42: The Hunter and the Prey

The scorching sun scorched the earth, and the temperature reached its highest point in the afternoon, even the air was distorted by the heat. The windows of the SUV were opened as wide as possible, but it was still like an oven, and the wind blowing in was suffocatingly hot.

Claude took off his armor, which was rare. Even with his current physical condition, he would get heatstroke if he still wore heavy armor. Now he only wore a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The climate change in this place taught Claude a good lesson. The temperature was only a dozen degrees just now, but it reached more than 50 degrees in the blink of an eye, and their vehicle only advanced more than a hundred kilometers.

Because the energy in the car was running low, they didn't want to turn on the air conditioner, so they could only endure the heat wave. His companions were already wearing cooler clothes, so it didn't matter at the moment. But the guest behind them still insisted on wearing a thick cloak and stood still behind them.

He opened the map and looked at the surrounding reference points, and found that they were still more than 300 kilometers away from their destination. But now it was really too hot, and there was no place to shelter in this wasteland for a while, so they had to keep going. Claude reached out and picked up his kettle, filling it with cold water. He was not too thirsty at the moment, but still needed the coolness of the water in the thermos to refresh himself.

"The water is running low. We need to get to the next gathering place quickly."

Xinteleya drank the last sip of water in the pot, wiped the corner of her mouth, and reminded Claude.

"Let's take a break first. We can continue our journey tomorrow morning. Otherwise, we won't have enough water to drink in this weather."

Claude looked at the small forest in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. He could not help but marvel at the amazing vitality of these plants. But no matter what, he finally had a place to rest temporarily.

I parked the car next to the woods, took out the sunscreen I had prepared in advance from the trunk, and covered the car with it. Then I took out the camping tools and walked into the woods.

After walking in for more than ten steps, Claude felt that there was something special here. A cool and refreshing water vapor came to his face. Although he could not hear the sound of running water, he could clearly feel the presence of water inside. The tall trees around him covered the inside tightly and not much sunlight came through.

In the middle of the forest, there is a huge bluestone lying on the ground. Around this huge stone, there is a spring. Clear water is flowing out. It accumulates in a basin-sized stone hole next to it, and then flows out from the gap next to it, seeping into the ground, forming a pool next to it, making the water level always so high.

Entering here, the scorching heat outside was immediately blocked out. The three of them relaxed involuntarily. Claude put the sleeping bag in his hand on the ground and prepared to light a bonfire. There were many dry branches on the ground, and there was plenty of fuel.

"If you want to wash, use a basin to draw water. Don't pollute the water source. Other travelers will need this in the future."⑧

After giving them some instructions, Claude went to collect firewood.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, and your boots would be buried directly if you stepped on them. Under the shade of the trees, the scorching sun outside, the burning scene, formed a sharp contrast with the cool shade inside.

Many dead branches had rotted away, leaving only dry branches. With just a little spark, they could be ignited immediately, making them a very convenient and suitable fuel. Claude tied a large bundle of dead branches together with a rope. He had to be careful because the dead branches were so dry that they would break with a little force. Although the bundle looked large, it was too dry and would burn quickly. It was not enough to burn all night, so he had to do it twice more.

“Quack! Quack!!”

A dry and hoarse cry came from above his head. Claude looked up and saw his old familiar friend. It was the same black feathered beast he had seen before. This guy looked somewhat similar to a crow, but was much larger than a crow. He was not skin and bones like a crow. Even without the hair, he still had three or four pounds of meat.

Of course, even so, few people are willing to eat it, because its ecological niche is the same as that of crows, and eating carrion all year round makes its meat extremely unpalatable. It also contains certain toxins and must be thoroughly processed before it can be eaten.

Generally speaking, seeing this guy means there are corpses nearby. And looking at the dozen or so dark shadows standing on the tree, it means there are quite a few corpses or the dead one is a big one.

Claude temporarily put down his firewood and went to investigate. After all, this phenomenon indicated that there might be dangerous enemies around.

As mentioned before, this forest area is not very large, only a few hundred square meters, so Claude only walked a few dozen steps to reach his destination.

As expected, the place was littered with corpses, but because they had not been dead for long, they had not yet rotted.

What is surprising is that the corpses here are not only human, but also many infected creatures, including Originium worms, infected hounds, and a strange creature with tentacles all over its body.

Most of these infected creatures had wounds from weapons, and their number was several times that of human corpses. The human corpses were also horrible, with most of their internal organs eaten and the fattier parts of the meat eaten away. Looking at the simple equipment and huge sacks of these people, it was certain that they were ordinary scavengers.

Looking at these still fresh, not completely eaten corpses, Claude frowned. He knew that the infected creatures would definitely come again, and there was no reason for them to give up so much food. And this place was too close to their camp. If they slept here at night, there would be a great risk. These unfortunate guys seemed to have been surrounded while resting at night, so they had no way to escape.

After carrying the firewood back, he told his companions about the situation. Neither of them had any objections, so they moved the camp to the other side of the forest.

The dry wood was easily ignited, and the iron pot was suspended by a rack made of three interwoven pieces of wood. Dried meat and dried vegetables were cooked inside, which were all long-lasting foods purchased when Casimir left. After sprinkling a little salt and other seasonings, it was ready to drink.

They baked the dry bread by the fire and added it to the soup made from dried meat and vegetables stewed in an iron pot. This was their dinner today, which was not rich, but it was a rare delicacy in the wild.

The lady they met on the road wanted to eat the hard bread she brought with her, but she ate with them despite the unanimous objection of Claude and the others. In Claude's opinion, it was unreasonable for their companions to watch them eat.

"Okay, ladies, go to sleep first, and come back later to take my place."

After eating, Claude, as usual, came to take up the night watch. The lady from Vaifan seemed to have some different opinions, but Claude was no less stubborn than her.

In the end, it was Claude who sat down by the campfire first.

Claude was not idle, he was sharpening a sharp stake with the dagger in his hand. Because this forest was not safe, he decided to make some traps and early warning devices, just in case.

When he was still an ordinary sky knight, he met an iron guard of the Third Legion.

The Iron Guards are the most elite ground armed forces of the Empire. They are equipped with the thickest and most sophisticated armor. Because of the load-bearing capacity of the griffins, the armor of the Sky Knights is slightly inferior to theirs.

When these powerful Iron Guards formed a formation, even his First Legion would find it difficult to stand up. The heavy armor with magic patterns covering the entire body, leaving only observation holes for the eyes, plus the complicated runes engraved inside the armor, made them more difficult to shake than a mountain once they came into contact with the formation. In addition, the various heavy weapons they were generally equipped with made them always able to crush all kinds of opponents on the battlefield like a torrent of steel.

The Iron Guard officer named Cherge commanded thousands of Iron Guards and held a high position in the Third Legion. Claude, who was only a squad leader at the time, became acquainted with him on the battlefield by accident.

Before he became an Iron Guard, he was a ranger in the Black Mist Forest in the south of the empire. But the ranger's duty was not to guard against poachers. The only thing they had to guard against was the invasion team sent by the elves in the south.

These invasion teams acted extremely quickly, and their only purpose was to cause destruction in the empire, whether it was slaughtering villages, burning farmland, destroying factories, etc. However, large armies were often difficult to dispatch.

In order to deal with these omnipresent teams, the Empire established a special force called the Forest Rangers in the south. Because the elves' invading teams are often small in number, with only more than 10 elite soldiers, and their sparse population also makes them dare not take risks, so the Forest Rangers, which are composed of 50 people in a unit, can often annihilate these teams as long as they catch them.

Moreover, with the full support of the empire, they were well-equipped and had sufficient supplies to sustain long-term battles. After years of fighting with the elves in the jungle, they became the jungle warfare experts of the entire empire, whether it was hunting wild animals, finding water and food, making various traps, building shelters... they were proficient in everything.

When the Empire attacked the elves in the south, these forest rangers immediately became the best guides for the legion. They were disbanded and dispersed into various legions, which greatly reduced the casualties of the Empire in the process of conquering the Black Mist Forest.

The loss of the Black Mist Forest, a natural barrier, dealt a heavy blow to the Elf Kingdom. It lost its most fertile plains area and was compressed into a corner of the continent.

Chergue, Claude's best friend, taught him all his skills without reservation, so the jungle is not Claude's weakness, but his home ground.

Claude left traps and warning devices at several key locations, and like every smart hunter, he eliminated all traces of himself. If someone with bad intentions approached them today, they would have to rely on themselves.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"The target is most likely here. There is no other place to rest nearby. This is the best opportunity we have encountered in the past few months."

Under the cover of night, several well-equipped mercenaries were gathered together, talking about something. In order not to expose their position, they did not light a fire. Relying on the night vision goggles on their helmets, they moved quietly in the night.

"Intelligence showed that the target had only one motorcycle, but we did not find any similar traces. It is possible that someone else helped the target."

"Then let's deal with it together. The employer requires that no information be leaked."

"Why don't we set a fire? Wouldn't it be better to burn the target to death inside?"

"You idiot! It's easy to burn her to death in there, but what about the things the employer asks for? Are you going to give birth to him?"

"Alright, stop talking nonsense and start the action quickly. Team 1, you go to the west and we go to the east. Don't let them get away, or else you will get nothing after chasing them for more than a month."

These people were indeed well-trained. They wore black combat uniforms and light protective armor on the outside. They entered the jungle without making a sound in the night.

In a few minutes, they formed a circle around the campfire, each relying on the communicator in the helmet to communicate with others in a low voice.

The encirclement was getting smaller and smaller, and just when the situation seemed to be going well, a scream suddenly came from the channel, and everyone fell to the ground in shock.

The scream stopped halfway through, as if the person covered his mouth to prevent the sound from coming out. The captain focused on the figure by the campfire. Seeing that the other party was not alarmed, he called the unlucky guy on the channel.