Chapter 149: The Killing, the Chainsaw Faces the Crocodile
Sss!
Soon, Meng Ci felt the airboat beneath him deflating and quickly collapsing.
The airboat was moving too fast, and this road was made of concrete, with no one to clean it, so there were many pebbles. It was expected that the airboat would be punctured.
However, Meng Ci did not feel sorry about it.
After all, extreme heat was coming soon, and at that time, there would be no water anywhere, making the airboat useless.
The crocodile had been controlled throughout the journey, but now, without anything restraining it, it naturally thrashed around, trying to free itself from the net that had caught half its body.
The more the crocodile struggled, the tighter the net became.
The airboat had rushed over twenty meters onto the shore, so the entire body of the crocodile was now on land.
In the water, the crocodile could not be effectively attacked due to the resistance of the water.
Now that it was on land, it was easier to deal with.
Meng Ci, Shen Que, and Liang Xiu all drew their compound bows and fired arrows simultaneously.
The crocodile, in pain, thrashed its tail wildly but could not make any sound because its mouth was bound by the net.
Naturally, people saw them pulling the crocodile back.
Many followed Meng Ci and his companions from a distance, curious to see how they would kill the crocodile.
They thought that if they could take advantage of the situation or offer some help, they might gain some benefits.
Unbothered by the onlookers, the three focused on shooting arrows. Soon, fifty arrows were embedded in the crocodile's body.
At this point, the crocodile looked like a spiky hedgehog.
Some arrows fell to the ground as the crocodile struggled. After waiting for about ten minutes, they saw the crocodile's strength wane.
Shen Que took a chainsaw from the deflated airboat.
No matter how tough the crocodile's skin was, it could not withstand the chainsaw's assault.
With the chainsaw turned on, accompanied by a sizzling sound, Shen Que began sawing into the crocodile, making several cuts.
The crocodile, in pain, struggled again.
Its tail whipped around, scattering pebbles, some of which hit the three men.
Meng Ci and Liang Xiu each took a long knife and stabbed into the wounds opened by the chainsaw.
Red blood slowly flowed out from under the crocodile.
Half an hour later, the crocodile's movements grew weaker.
Meng Ci plopped down on the ground, taking a deep breath.
"Phew, after such hard work today, we should have a good meal when we get back," Meng Ci said, rotating his arm and speaking with frustration.
If it weren't for the need to provide a reasonable explanation for the appearance of the solar panels, Meng Ci would never have agreed to do such a difficult task.
Shen Que and Liang Xiu first collected the arrows scattered by the crocodile and placed them with their compound bows before sitting down to rest.
Those who had been watching, hoping to take advantage of the situation while the three were exhausted, lost interest upon seeing the compound bows.
After all, they had seen the compound bows penetrate the crocodile's skin, even if only a few centimeters.
Humans, lacking the crocodile's tough shell, would likely lose their lives if hit by an arrow.
However, they did not leave.
Even if they couldn't claim the crocodile, learning a few techniques to subdue it would be useful.
"Uncle Liang, where are your glasses?"
Meng Ci, having rested enough, wanted to check if Shen Que and Liang Xiu were injured. He saw no external injuries but noticed that Liang Xiu's gold-rimmed glasses were missing.
"Can you still see clearly?"
Liang Xiu was wiping an arrow on his already wet pants.
"Why wouldn't I be able to see?"
"I don't have myopia."
Liang Xiu wore glasses to appear more mature, so that the people he managed would trust him.
"Alright," Meng Ci said awkwardly, realizing that Liang Xiu, who always wore glasses, was not actually nearsighted.
Without his glasses, Liang Xiu looked somewhat young.
If he didn't wear glasses, he probably wouldn't be able to manage his employees.
But after wearing them for so long, Liang Xiu had gotten used to them and continued to wear them even in the apocalypse.
"Since you don't have your glasses now, won't you be unable to wear them in the future?" Meng Ci asked curiously.
Hearing this, Liang Xiu silently rummaged through his bag from the deflated airboat, took out a glasses case, and retrieved another pair of gold-rimmed glasses.
Seeing Liang Xiu put on his glasses, Meng Ci was surprised.
Really can't figure it out, why would Liang Xiu still wear glasses when coming out to catch crocodiles?
"Did you catch the crocodile?"
Meng Ci and the others had been resting for over ten minutes when they suddenly heard a voice behind them.
Turning around, they found that the person leading the group was none other than Li Wencan from the Xishanye Office, followed by more than a dozen soldiers.
"Comrade Li, hello." Meng Ci stood up to greet him.
"Yes, we did catch this crocodile."
"Meng Ci, you're amazing!" Li Wencan patted Meng Ci on the shoulder.
Since the crocodiles appeared, apart from the official teams that caught three of them, no one else had managed to catch any.
Moreover, the crocodiles they caught were not as large as the ones Meng Ci and his team caught.
Men have a tendency to admire strength, and seeing just three people catching a crocodile, everyone looked at Meng Ci and his team with admiration, praising them.
"Not at all, not at all!" Meng Ci humbly replied.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Wencan said he had brought his men to help.
Naturally, Meng Ci expressed his gratitude.
After confirming that the crocodile was dead, the three of them removed the arrows and set them aside.
The crocodile was too large to be carried, so they had to tie it up and drag it up the mountain.
Therefore, they took off the rope net from the crocodile's body, untangled it, and re-tied it.
Meng Ci, fearing there wouldn't be enough rope, pretended to take some from his bag.
In reality, Meng Ci retrieved the rope from his spatial storage, but used the bag as a cover.
Taking out the rope, they continued to tie up the crocodile.
"Where did you get those compound bows?"
After tying up the crocodile, Li Wencan noticed the compound bows on the ground and asked curiously.
These bows were quite powerful.
Meng Ci explained, "We found them in someone's house during the Blizzard Era."
"At that time, it wasn't just humans who were in danger, but also various fierce beasts."
"So when we saw the compound bows, we brought them home."
This explanation seemed reasonable, and Li Wencan and his men didn't press the issue further, though they added a few words of caution: using the compound bows to hunt beasts was fine, but they should never be aimed at humans.
After all, the power of a compound bow was far beyond what a human body could withstand.
Meng Ci agreed.
However, if someone acted unreasonably and provoked them, Meng Ci made it clear that he would not let them off.
Li Wencan sighed, indicating his understanding.
With over a dozen people pulling on the ropes, they shouted "one, two, one" in unison and exerted all their strength.
But the crocodile, lying on the ground, showed no sign of moving.
In this post-apocalyptic world, people's physical strength had indeed increased significantly, almost subconsciously. Someone who could only carry a hundred pounds before could now carry over two hundred.
Some were even three times stronger than before.
But facing such a massive crocodile, their strength clearly wasn't enough.