CHAPTER 440: CHAPTER 409: CAMPING

Mountain Eagle, of course, had never seen a ’mutated’ brown bear, but he had seen ’monsters’ concocted by humans.

Lean meat powder, steroids, and the animal medicine Group Dragon, commonly used by almost everyone in the bodybuilding community, had created a bunch of muscular monsters...

Because the use of Group Dragon requires it to be paired with estrogen, those seemingly huge muscle monsters would eventually suffer from cardiovascular diseases, erectile dysfunction, and widespread acne as side effects over time.

Most importantly, when steroids are used excessively, people become aggressive and irritable; they can easily burst a muscle without needing Viagra. Aside from their manhood not functioning well, every other part of them is absolutely the epitome of masculinity!

There is even more outrageous stuff, such as the Devil Meat Cattle, the Belgian Blue Cattle bred through selective artificial crossbreeding, and the Whippet dogs in dog racing competitions...

Belgian Blue Cattle naturally have a genetic flaw because they lack a muscle growth inhibitory factor, leading to their muscles developing to a freakish extent.

The dystocia rate of these freaks of nature reaches 95%, which means in a natural environment, they couldn’t naturally reproduce in any way.

The Whippet also has a similar condition; they grew ’Double Muscle’ due to gene mutations which made them exceptionally noticeable in dog races, but to any normal person, these are just freaks.

It’s unapologetically true that without modern human technology, these two types of beings couldn’t survive or reproduce at all.

Those bodybuilding drug gurus are actually the same; the only difference is that they don’t have genetic defects, so to maintain mass muscle, they need long-term medication.

Mountain Eagle once read a report about some so-called body sculpting masters who could turn a skinny chicken into a hunk with six-pack abs in just a few months, not through so-called healthy diets and self-discipline but through drugs.

And those drug-pumped muscles could shrink anytime the drugs are stopped!

Everyone knows about the side effects of drugs, but many people can’t resist the temptation to take short cuts, so animal medicines and steroids are a disaster within the fitness community.

Everyone wants to be like Captain America, getting a few injections to become a superhero.

So, people take a shot of Group Dragon before exercising, have a sip of caffeine nitric pump for a buzz at the gym entrance, and every now and then, take a few shots of Dali Bu, a Super Soldier drug invented by Germany during World War II.

Doing so can turn a skinny chicken into Schwarzenegger in just a year or two!

When you see those big guys full of acne in the gym, it’s best to treat them with respect, because for those super huge muscles, they’re even willing to sacrifice their testicles.

What’s even more outrageous is that with the development of genetic technology, people can now directly knock out a set of genes, limiting the production of muscle inhibiting factors.

That is to say, there’s no longer a need for the luck of crossbreeding; muscle monsters can now be customized.

Compared to the ’curse’ claimed by Old Quida, Mountain Eagle was more inclined to believe that the ferocious monsters were created by mad humans.

Old Qiao said that such creatures have appeared multiple times in recent years, but given these flawed beings’ natural reproductive abilities, there’s no reason for them to have originated naturally.

The emergence of an irritable Devil Muscle Bear made Mountain Eagle have a bad premonition about his upcoming journey to the mountain.

If the place really has something to do with genetic manipulation, it would certainly not be limited to animals, because if it were just about animals, there would be no need to guard it so securely.

Mountain Eagle had seen many confidential documents through Snowden detailing various ’Super Soldier Plan’ type human experimentation projects...

Steroids and Group Dragon, such civilian-banned drugs, are just child’s play in those projects.

It’s not even news that big US Army soldiers love steroids; much more technology and hardcore stuff have come out of similar human experiments.

What Mountain Eagle can’t figure out is, if there is indeed a similar laboratory in the mountain, how does Black Fox get in touch with them from any angle?

Judging by the condition of the natives, it’s clear that they are no match for the people inside the mountain, being oppressively out of breath.

There was no need for Dimension Card Company to hire someone like Black Fox, and even less need to spend a fortune purchasing a batch of drug-addicted freaks from Jungle Ant to do their dirty work...

Not economical in the slightest!

In the end, all questions must come down to entering the site to get answers.

Old Qiao wasn’t boasting, and Old Quida indeed knew the swamps and waterways of this area well. They left at 8 am, and by around 4 pm, they had arrived at the foot of the target mountain range.

As soon as Mountain Eagle set foot on land, he noticed the presence of drones in the sky...

They weren’t specifically targeting him but took off from a mountain a few kilometers away and then began a circular flight pattern.

This was clearly a planned defensive reconnaissance tactic, meant to prevent natives or others from entering the area.

Wayne told him about the ghosts in the mountain last night, and he had guessed a little...

Because it’s impossible to set up real-time surveillance inside the mountain, only by using aerial drones to provide early warnings and then ambushing in the direction of the advance of native hunters could they create the effect of a ’Ghost Forest’.

Quida definitely didn’t know about the drones above, but the location he chose naturally avoided the drone’s camera angles.

The place where the speedboat landed was flat, but not far ahead, a hill separated Mountain Eagle and his party from the distant large mountain.

Mountain Eagle didn’t rashly order Crow to attack the opponent’s drones, but followed Old Qiao’s command, moved all the luggage from the speedboat to the shore, then helped drag the speedboat to a dry spot by the Waterfront.

Old Qiao had been busy ever since disembarking from the boat. He let Big Dog run freely while he himself looked around and quickly found a suitable camping spot. Then he called out loudly, "We’ll camp here and head into the mountain first thing tomorrow morning. Quida will wait for us here..."

Mountain Eagle, carrying his backpack, walked over and was just about to take out his tent when Quida said, "Come with me, I’ll teach you how to set up a native tent...

In Alaska, those small tents you’ve brought aren’t very practical."

Mountain Eagle, someone who heeded advice, was genuinely interested in this sort of thing. So he dropped his backpack with a smile and said, "OK, what do you need me to do?"

Quida probably had never entertained such an agreeable wealthy man. He rubbed his big nose and glanced at Butcher and Daria beside him before saying, "You, bring the axe with you; you, gather the pebbles on the ground and place them together..."

Butcher and Daria exchanged a glance, then bent down to take the hand axes from their packs and attach them to their waists. Carrying AK-105s, they walked to Mountain Eagle’s side...

Seeing Butcher’s guard-up appearance, Quida shook his head in disdain, turned around, picked up a small bucket containing glass bottles, and led them towards the nearby Birch Forest.

At first, Mountain Eagle thought Quida was going to have him chop trees, but to his surprise, the old man handed out several whistle-like metal hollow tubes to him and Butcher. Quida then found a birch tree, knocked a metal tube into the trunk and hammered a nail underneath, hanging a small glass bottle below it.

Knowing Quida was collecting birch tree sap, Mountain Eagle deftly directed Butcher to knock the empty tubes into several other birch trees...

After hanging the glass bottles, Mountain Eagle said with a laugh, "Actually, it’s not necessary, the melting snow in Alaska is very clean, and we brought filters..."

Quida glanced at Mountain Eagle, shook his head, and said, "Learning to find clean water sources is the most important lesson in camping.

What’s more important in this lesson is knowing which waters can be drunk directly.

Do not rashly try to drink snow water directly unless you have spent more than three winters in Alaska.

You’ll only turn this place into a paradise if you maintain awe for the Earth Goddess and gain her approval."

Butcher did not endorse Quida’s theory. However, as a Hua Country person, Mountain Eagle acknowledged the profound wisdom of acclimatization.

Old Quida was indeed diligently teaching the survival skills of Alaska, and one had to keep in mind the words of an elder who condensed decades of survival experience, as it could save one’s life at some point.

Seeing Mountain Eagle’s humble performance, Quida nodded satisfactorily, led the two men to find a dozen birch trees with a diameter of about 8 centimeters and a height of over 6 meters to chop down, then peeled and slightly roasted them over the fire raised by Old Qiao.

By the time Quida took out two large oilcloths, Mountain Eagle already knew what he intended to do.

’Tu Pique,’ a temporary tent often used by native hunters when they went hunting in the polar regions...

However, while Inuit people’s ’Tu Pique’ is made of skins and furs, Quida used large oilcloths.

First, choose the three thickest poles for support...

Tie the upper ends together with wire, and then each of the three people holds a pole and inserts it into a pre-dug hole, erecting a stable triangular structure.

Then, it gets simple...

Surround the triangular structure with the remaining long poles, no special fixings needed; it’s like building a block set in childhood. A seemingly makeshift but actually quite stable tent frame is completed.

Next, wrap the frame with two oilcloths, leaving a small door for entry and exit, and cover the lower ends with soil for anchoring. There’s no need to seal the pointed top; the natural chimney effect will exhaust the smoke rising from the campfire inside the tent.

It looks very simple, but in fact, it takes both warmth and ventilation into account—this ancient wisdom contains many scientific principles.

Daria was very interested in camping. After the tent was set up, she used rocks to build a round bonfire in the center of the tent...

After lighting the bonfire, Daria kept stirring the fire, then sprinkled the formed charcoal ashes onto the floor inside the tent.

Quida was originally going to guide Daria on how to set up the bedding, but this exquisite lady actually pulled out several emergency blankets to lay on the ground, then took out several inflatable mattresses and had Butcher busy with a pump for half an hour, creating three 10-centimeter-thick mattresses.

Watching Daria personally blow up an inflatable pillow and place it on the middle mattress, then putting a bunch of fresh flowers between the two mattresses...

Quida couldn’t help but give a thumbs up to the exquisite Lady, saying, "Well done; I hope you can still use these mattresses after you go into the mountain."

Daria ignored Quida’s tease. With a cheerful command to Butcher, she used an oil saw to cut a meter-high, 30-centimeter-diameter log from top to bottom into a cross shape to create a simple Swedish torch stove...

She stuffed wood chips into the cross-shaped opening, stood the log in the already extinguished bonfire in the center of the tent, secured it with stones, and poured a bit of diesel fuel in...

Such a sized torch stove could burn for hours, and the concentrated flame made it very practical inside the tent, whether for boiling water or for dealing with Alaskan summer nights.

Quida considered these things to be mere trinkets, but he had to admit the girl had a touch of refinement...

If he did the same, it might be more practical, but it would definitely not compare in appearance and neatness.

Watching Daria bring out a coffee can and grind coffee beans with a delicate hand grinder, Old Quida sniffed, once again gave a thumbs up and seriously said, "I would like one of these for myself too..."

At this time, Mountain Eagle was fishing by the Waterfront...

With a delicate fishing rod using wild duck innards as bait, he quickly caught a one-and-a-half-foot-long sizeable dogfish...

Just as Mountain Eagle marveled at the richness of the wilderness in Alaska, Old Qiao, who had finished processing the wild duck, frowned at the surrounding forest...