Theresa pried the bear trap on Xing Chen's leg in half.
No need to worry about the injury; it wouldn't affect his movement. By the time the infection killed him, it would probably be time to wake up anyway.
"Xing Chen, do you think there might be Ursus hunters here?" Combining the missing feathered beasts and the bear trap, Theresa made her judgment. "Now, we don't have to worry about getting lost."
But Xing Chen felt something was off.
He held one half of the bear trap in his hand, toying with it, watching the surface of the exotic metal reflect the light.
This thing... isn't it a little too new?
"Theresa, get your weapon."
"What's wrong, Xing Chen?"
"I suspect the person here isn't a hunter," Xing Chen whispered. "You said the adult feathered beasts have all disappeared."
"Yes, that's right," Theresa initially thought her judgment was correct, but Xing Chen specifically mentioned adult feathered beasts. "If the big birds are gone, the little birds can't survive. Shouldn't a normal hunter take them all at once?"
At this moment, both of them felt that the third person in the woods might have ill intentions.
Returning to the cargo compartment of the truck, the two pulled out the weapons they had prepared long ago.
Theresa's weapon was a bolt pistol, a complete overhaul of Xing Chen's original bolt gun by Raytheon Industries technicians.
The primer, fuse, and propellant of the warhead were all optimized, finally integrating armor-piercing and explosive functions into miniaturized ammunition—the price was even much cheaper than etched bullets because the primer and propellant were high-energy Originium explosives, which cost far less than Originium carriers with etched Originium circuits and etching Originium Arts.
The bolt gun itself was also optimized, with a new barrel and rifling, and the automatic firing mechanism was precisely designed, greatly improving accuracy and stability—it was also cheaper than firearms because it did not contain a casting unit, and could be processed by any decent machinery factory.
The only drawback was the much greater recoil; after all, Xing Chen used low-purity Originium dust as a substitute for gunpowder as the primer, and Terra people directly used Originium explosives to ensure power.
Theresa picked up the bolt gun, which resembled an enlarged Mauser pistol, and loaded the magazine into the gun.
As for Xing Chen, he took a grenade crossbow, the same model as the five-star artilleryman.
Considering his physical condition, the crossbow string was weakened, firing the same ammunition as Theresa, which would reduce projectile speed and penetration.
Correspondingly, the noise upon firing would also be much smaller.
"Did you notice anything unusual when you went hunting?"
Donning the ghillie suit Theresa made using Originium Arts, Xing Chen quietly asked behind her.
"No, I didn't notice anything."
Theresa was also wearing a ghillie suit, leading the way with her bolt gun.
"Xing Chen, do you think he might be observing us from the shadows?"
"I can't rule out that option, but I think he might be injured and unable to move easily."
"You have a point. If his leg is injured, he wouldn't be able to climb trees to raid bird nests, so he'd have to lure and trap landing adult feathered beasts."
How to find someone deliberately disguised in a dark, moonless forest.
Theresa suggested whether they should try to flush him out.
In addition to ordinary armor-piercing high-explosive rounds, Raytheon Military Industries also gave them some incendiary rounds.
Xing Chen thought it was worth a try, so he took an incendiary round from his ammo pouch and loaded it into the crossbow.
Then, he fired one in the direction where there were many trees.
"The ammunition hit," Theresa said.
The incendiary round made very little noise, almost imperceptible to human hearing.
Soon, a large fire ignited in the nearby woods.
The flames didn't spread very far, but they still burned out an open space.
"There's nothing there," Theresa told Xing Chen after a careful observation.
So, he loaded another round and fired it, the fire illuminating half the forest, but there was still no one in the burned area.
There were heroes who could endure the pain of high-temperature scorching, but Xing Chen didn't think he should encounter such a person.
"Forget it, if we keep firing, this forest will be burned down." Xing Chen put away the incendiary rounds, hoping the Ursus Empire didn't have a crime like arson in the mountains.
"Perhaps... I have a way?"
"Oh? Tell me?"
"Have you heard of silk threads with a two-hundred-meter radius?"
After speaking, Theresa released her Originium Arts, and countless silk threads spread out from under her skirt.
When did she train her silk threads to extend that far?
A two-hundred-meter radius was a very large area, and she soon had a result.
"Should we try shouting?"
"Do you speak Ursus?"
"Can I use Gaulish?"
"Gaul has been dead for how long?"
Just as the two were arguing, the other party seemed to sense that Theresa was looking for him, so he immediately dropped his disguise and attacked them.
"That heavy footsteps... Damn it, it's an Ursus shieldguard."
Before Xing Chen finished speaking, a huge figure suddenly leaped between the two.
Xing Chen raised his grenade crossbow and fired a shot without aiming. However, due to the close distance and insufficient force, the warhead's fuse didn't even activate.
At the same time, Theresa also raised her bolt gun and quickly fired a burst.
The shieldguard seemed to have already designated Theresa, the Sarkaz, as a high-risk target, and his heavy shield blocked a series of explosions.
Seeing that the bolt rounds were not effective against the shieldguard's front, Theresa prepared to summon Dust to deal true damage to the target.
More than killing him, Xing Chen wanted to know why a shieldguard would appear alone in a desolate forest.
Based on the assumption that the opponent was injured, he planned to capture him alive by attacking his weak points.
So, he reloaded an incendiary round and fired it at the ground.
Amidst the rising flames, the two clearly saw that one of his legs seemed abnormal.
"Attack the good leg."
"I know that without you telling me."
Theresa finished reloading her second magazine and fired a shot directly at the normal leg.
The bolt round did not completely penetrate the leg armor, but the explosion made up for the damage.
With both legs severely injured, the shieldguard could no longer support his body and heavy armor.
"Damn demons, what are you doing in the great Ursus Empire!"
The shieldguard was considered an elite soldier, his status certainly not low, and he had some education, which was why he could shout at the two in such a strong Gaulish voice.
"Sir Ursus, we are travelers from Columbia and bear no ill will towards the Ursus Empire." As she spoke, she prepared to pull out documents from Victoria and Columbia from her person.
However, Xing Chen stopped her and asked her to translate a sentence for him.
"Perhaps we should ask you, soldier abandoned by the Ursus Empire."