Cao Biansheng said, "Do we really have to go to its lair? Can’t we look for it somewhere else? It’s not like it has to go all the way home just to take a crap."

"So crude." Qin Ziwu shook his head.

"But there are two Tyrannosaurs here. What if you end up finding the other one?" Wang Yun said with a smirk.

Recalling the scene of the two Tyrannosaurs locked in a standoff, Cao Biansheng fell silent.

"As for the mud at the bottom of the lake, that has its own risks. It’s an unfamiliar scent to the Tyrannosaurs, but it will at least mask our human scent. From a Tyrannosaurus’s perspective, it’s the difference between a group of unfamiliar mice standing outside its door and a group of unfamiliar television sets."

"Guys, I thought of another problem," Yuan Ming said, raising his hand. "There are only ten of us from the guild here. Even if each of us operates one Car-Mounted Crossbow, we can only use ten at most. Will ten Car-Mounted Crossbows be enough? But if we use more, what if someone who isn’t in the guild steals the kill?"

The others stared at him as if he were an idiot.

Yuan Ming hesitated. "Did I say something wrong...?"

Cao Biansheng said, "Have you considered that we only need to kill one Tyrannosaurus to complete the task? It doesn’t matter who kills it. The most important thing is that it dies."

Qin Ziwen made the final decision. "Alright, we’ll go with that plan. But we’ll have to wait a few days, as we don’t have that many Car-Mounted Crossbows right now. Once the next batch is delivered, we can start hunting the Tyrannosaurus. For now, let’s get a few more of the other tasks done."

Cao Biansheng was raring to go. "Chairman Qin, what’s our next target?"

"The Zungar Rhinoceros. But we won’t have to lift a finger. Your job is to invite everyone else to come watch the show."

...

By the lake, five Zungar Rhinoceroses stood on the prairie, leisurely grazing.

They devoured vast swathes of trees and grass wherever they went.

But as the apex Giant Beasts of this Oasis, they ambled about nonchalantly.

A Gobi Armored Dragon loitered nearby, its eyes fixed warily on the Zungar Rhinoceroses ahead.

While they appeared to be in the same class in terms of body length, their actual tonnage was worlds apart.

Excluding its tail, the Zungar Rhinoceros was eight meters long and five meters tall at the shoulder, weighing over twenty-four tons.

It was the largest land mammal in Earth’s history.

It was like a mountain standing there.

The Gobi Armored Dragon, on the other hand, though also nearly eight meters long including its tail, stood only two meters tall at the shoulder and weighed between five and seven tons.

However, a thick layer of plate armor, hard as stone, grew along their backs. This external exoskeleton alone was enough to secure their place among the top three herbivores of the Oasis.

The three herds—the Zungar Rhinoceroses, the Gobi Armored Dragons, and the Duck-billed Dragons—had always coexisted peacefully, each carving out its own territory.

But today, that peace was shattered. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The leader of the Duck-billed Dragon herd had been drowned in the lake.

This threw the Duck-billed Dragon herd into a leaderless panic.

They had previously secured the most fertile part of the Oasis through the strength of their leader and their advantage in numbers.

Otherwise, in terms of individual physique, a Duck-billed Dragon was not necessarily stronger than a Zungar Rhinoceros.

"SCREEECH—"

A deep, resonant cry suddenly echoed from above.

It sent ripples of unrest through the Duck-billed Dragon herd.

The Zungar Rhinoceroses silently huddled closer together.

The Gobi Armored Dragons flicked their tails and went back to grazing with their heads lowered.

Other animals might be afraid, but they weren’t.

Because they had armor. Even the Tyrannosaurs, the overlords of the Gobi Desert, were reluctant to provoke them.

It was only when the shadow overhead grew larger and larger that a Gobi Armored Dragon finally sensed something was wrong.

It let out a low growl but found it difficult to raise its head.

Its spine was so short it could be said to have no neck.

The heavy bone plates gave it incredible defense but also restricted its ability to look up.

Faced with a predator striking from above, all it could do was spin in circles.

The Beaked Eagle’s sharp talons, like eight scalpels, sliced precisely into the Armored Dragon’s head.

The Armored Dragon thrashed its head, the spiked club on its tail swinging relentlessly.

The spiked club, capable of shattering the leg bones of a Tyrannosaurus, struck nothing but air.

The Beaked Eagle maintained its balance, its talons digging in deeper as it adjusted its grip.

Suddenly, the Armored Dragon’s legs buckled, and it dropped to the ground to perform a roll.

Its massive body crushed the plants underneath.

It rarely used this maneuver, as rolling over exposed its underbelly, the Armored Dragon’s weak point.

The Beaked Eagle beat its wings and soared overhead, effortlessly dodging the Armored Dragon’s attack.

Then it swooped down again to attack the Armored Dragon’s head.

This went on for over ten minutes until the Armored Dragon finally crashed to the ground.

Specks of light emanated from its corpse, coalescing into two Cards.

At the same time, Qin Ziwen received a notification from his Home.

[Hunting Celestial List Level 1 Task Complete: Hunt 1 Adult Armored Dragon]

[Reward Obtained: External Injury Healing Card (Small), 2 Points]

The sixth Level 1 Task was complete!

Qin Ziwen was overjoyed. The two targets for the Level 2 Task were now set, and with his Beaked Eagle having advanced to the Extraordinary level, he found that completing tasks was becoming easier and easier. He set the Level 2 Task aside for now; at least the Level 1 Tasks were proving to be no big deal. With the Beaked Eagle’s agility, they weren’t difficult as long as he was willing to spend the time. ’I just don’t know what these points are for, though.’ He had already accumulated 7 of them.

In the distance, the group of people sitting and standing on the stone platform couldn’t help but marvel. "That Armored Dragon was completely countered."

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen a perfect counter in person," Wang Sheng said with a sigh.

Was the Gobi Armored Dragon strong?

It was.

With its incredible Defense Power, low-slung body, thick, spiked bone plates, and a tail that could only be described as a battering ram...

...it was an absolutely troublesome opponent. Ordinary Bows and Arrows were probably useless against it.

Most predators would absolutely hate having to deal with a thorny meat shield like that.

Someone spoke up, "Does that mean all you need is a bird to easily take down an Armored Dragon?"

The person next to him immediately joked, "That depends on the bird. Chairman Qin’s is huge and incredibly smart. A smaller bird wouldn’t even be able to get through the Armored Dragon’s defenses."

Qin Ziwen, however, knew some of the reason. After its breakthrough to the Extraordinary level, the Beaked Eagle’s strength had surged, and its talons had become unbelievably sharp, even more so than steel knives.

With those eight talons sunk into its head, the Armored Dragon could only take the punishment.

With the Armored Dragon’s death, some of the nearby wild animals scattered.

But there were bolder ones, like a Desert Raptor. It smelled blood in the air, took two tentative steps forward, and squawked twice at the Beaked Eagle overhead.

Then the Beaked Eagle performed a dive, scaring it into a panicked retreat.

"The Armored Dragon’s corpse is right there. How are we going to bring it back? Do we butcher it on the spot?" someone suggested.

But others felt it was too risky.

After that Armored Dragon died, three others of its kind gathered around the body, forming a circle.

The Beaked Eagle drove the remaining Armored Dragons away with a few swoops.

Afterward, Qin Ziwen rode the Beaked Eagle in to retrieve the Cards.

The two Cards were an Ordinary Building Duplication Card and a Level 1 Stable.

For the next two days, the Beaked Eagle and the others worked in concert, hunting constantly throughout the Oasis.

They carved out a fearsome reputation for themselves through sheer force.

The convoy returning from the Gated Community also arrived at the Oasis.

They also brought with them a large quantity of support supplies from the Gated Community.

These included items for warmth, like tents, quilts, and blankets.

There were also seasonings, like salt.

The returning transport team felt that something was strange about the Oasis as soon as they arrived. For example, they saw a herd of wild horses on the road. These horses, which had previously ignored them, now bolted at the sight of them.

And the Desert Raptors that used to enjoy harassing them now stood on the dunes, watched for a moment, and then fled without a second glance.

It was the kind of scene they had only ever witnessed back on Earth...

...

...