Chapter 32

Chapter 32

At four-thirty on Sunday morning, the three teammates of "Silence is Golden" sat side by side in their aircraft once again.

Other mercenary teams chatted verbally, but Xu Qiao and her companions were engrossed in their communication bracelets.

Sun Fushan: "By the way, do you know why mercenaries don't like going to An County lately?"

An County was the C-level danger zone they had visited yesterday.

Xu Qiao: "Isn't An County's west bordering Yellow City, a B-level danger zone?"

Similarly classified as a C-level danger zone, one nestled between C and D-level zones would naturally be safer than one adjacent to a B-level danger zone.

If Meng Li's level hadn't improved, Xu Qiao would have definitely rejected the idea of going to An County. But now, with one B-level attacker and one B-level healer, and Sun Fushan being an outstanding defender among C-levels, they could take on An County, which was rated as a C-level danger zone. Besides, fewer people there would reduce the chance of someone spotting Meng Li's spirit form.

Meng Li: "And isn't Yellow City's west bordering Jing City, an A-level danger zone?"

Sun Fushan: "You two are really smart. Do you know what's happening in Jing City now?"

Xu Qiao feigned ignorance.

Sun Fushan's lips curled up, his fingers typing faster than he could speak: "This year, The Second School has taken over Jing City. It was supposed to be a secret, but this morning, my big brother asked where I was going. When I said An County, he told me and warned us to be careful."

The Guard Army prioritizes protecting the base's safety, gradually expanding human activity outward as a long-term plan. Thus, only a portion of the Guard Army is sent to explore unknown areas, clearing out some high-level mutated creatures, and then designating corresponding danger zones. They then issue basic missions to mobilize professional or part-time mercenaries to clear the large numbers of mutated creatures within these zones.

This is the base's "Strong Citizen" plan.

Many ability users can choose not to join the military but must possess sufficient combat power to deal with the inevitable beast waves that occur periodically. The brutal battles in the early New Era proved that relying solely on the Guard Army couldn't protect all survivors. For their own lives and the entire base, ability users cannot forever hide within the base.

In various danger zones, mutated plants root themselves underground, expanding their roots rather than roaming around. Mutated beasts and insects usually have their territories, but if a large number of ability users appear simultaneously, the confident beasts will actively hunt humans, while weaker or more cautious ones might flee.

Therefore, every year, some mutated beasts and insects from the danger zones contracted by military schools disperse into surrounding danger zones.

Sun Fushan: "Should we change our location?"

The aircraft would stop at three C-level danger zones, with An County being the farthest.

Xu Qiao: "But other zones are too crowded recently. My water ability and Meng Li's wind ability need to be kept secret."

Meng Li: "Xu Qiao and I can go to An County. You can either go to another zone alone or return home and join us next week."

Sun Fushan looked at his teammates in disbelief.

Xu Qiao said seriously, "We don't want to drag you along with our risks."

Perhaps because of his fair and tender face, Sun Fushan blushed easily. Avoiding Xu Qiao's concerned gaze, he continued typing: "I'm not afraid; I'm just reminding you about the risks. Actually, I'd rather you didn't change locations. I don't want to go to other zones and compete with others for mutated beasts."

Competing for ownership of mutated beasts requires both combat power and verbal skills. His stutter put him at a disadvantage from the start.

Xu Qiao: "Alright, alright, let's continue together. After all, there's still Yellow City between us and Jing City. The A-level mutated beasts from Jing City won't run over 200 kilometers to An County, right?"

Meng Li: "If any do, the patrol soldiers in Yellow City and An County will warn us. Then we can use the Fire Scorpions to get back to the aircraft."

She hadn't yet mastered the flying ability of her wind power, but the winged Fire Scorpions could fly and wouldn't struggle carrying three people for a short time.

Sun Fushan: "That's great. Last time, we had to rely on Brother Qin to escape from the mother lizard. Now we have another flying ally."

At six o'clock, the aircraft landed steadily on a vacant lot in An County.

Yesterday, the trio went to the northern part of An County, killing over twenty mutated creatures. Today, they decided to try their luck in the south, cautiously avoiding the western area bordering Yellow City.

Their luck held. As soon as Sun Fushan parked the off-road vehicle outside a mountainous area, a C-level gray-black peregrine falcon with a nearly two-meter wingspan flew out of nearby woods. Its sharp eyes and beak resembled a deadly blade, and its extended talons looked like lethal hooks.

Meng Li nimbly stepped aside, leaving the combat opportunity to her teammates.

Sun Fushan noticed that the peregrine falcon's primary target was still him, despite his armor shielding his scent!

The falcon's flight speed was incredible, reaching them in an instant. A single-sided barbed earth shield appeared out of nowhere, but the falcon did not slow down. Instead, it raised its talons and, using the force of its dive, tore through the earth shield.

Simultaneously, a torrential waterfall descended, unexpectedly drenching the falcon's wings, forcing it to drop lower.

A spear-like earth spike emerged from the ground, piercing the falcon's relatively softer abdomen with a "pfft."

Despite the pain, the falcon did not die. Its anger turned to fury, and it took off again with the earth spike still embedded in its body. With a flap of its massive wings, it scattered the earth spikes around it and turned mid-air, now targeting Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao condensed a meter-long water arrow and shot it at the falcon's neck, but the falcon dodged it. In an instant, it closed the distance, and Xu Qiao dodged the falcon's talons by diving to the side, narrowly escaping the closing wings.

The falcon, missing its target, landed and tried to take off again. However, before it could regain altitude, four earth walls rose from the ground, forming an inverted heavy pot.

The falcon struggled fiercely, but Sun Fushan continuously thickened the pot and squeezed inward layer by layer.

Mutated beasts' constitutions far exceeded those of ability users of the same level. Sun Fushan's earth pot lasted about three minutes before the falcon's sharp beak pierced through the top, and the black bird was about to break free.

However, reflected in the yellow eyes was not just the blue sky above but also a sharp water arrow descending from above.

This time, the falcon had nowhere to hide. The only part of its head exposed outside the pot was deeply pierced by the water arrow.

As the falcon broke through the thick earth pot with its last strength, its body staggered and fell beside them, the water arrow still embedded in its head.

Sun Fushan, accustomed to this teamwork, remained calm and followed Xu Qiao to stand twenty meters away, watching Meng Li practice her wind ability.

Meng Li, who had received guidance from Qinchi the night before, no longer tried to lift the falcon's corpse rudely. Instead, she controlled two gusts of wind to envelop the falcon's wings. The wind made the wings flap, and soon, the dead falcon seemed to come alive, slowly lifting off the ground with its head drooping.

Sun Fushan excitedly grabbed his teammate's wrist!

Xu Qiao: "…"

Both were wearing armor, and Xu Qiao, noticing their captain still focused on the falcon, ignored him for now.

Meng Li controlled the peregrine falcon to circle in the air repeatedly, getting used to flying with solid wings. She then placed the falcon's corpse on the ground and rudely severed its wings with wind blades. Next, she continued to envelop the falcon's body with wind orbs, extending two intangible "wind orb wings."

This time it took longer, but eventually, Meng Li succeeded, and the wingless peregrine falcon lifted off the ground once again.

Bright red blood gushed from the wounds on both sides of the falcon. Sun Fushan unconsciously released Xu Qiao's wrist, his expression complex.

If he didn't know Meng Li, if he had stumbled upon this scene by accident, he might have mistaken her for a bloodthirsty demoness.

Xu Qiao, being a healer, had seen many gruesome wounds and was more accepting of this sight than Sun Fushan.

The wingless peregrine falcon was heavier than Sun Fushan, and after controlling its flight for half an hour, Meng Li felt her mental energy waning, so she quickly lowered the falcon.

She shared her experience with her teammates: "I can only fly for about half an hour now. With more practice, I might be able to extend that time."

Attacking beasts has intervals, but flying requires continuous use of abilities.

Xu Qiao: "You're already very impressive. It's only been one night, and you've made such progress."

Meng Li rarely smiled: "Qinchi is a good teacher, and thank you too."

Without Xu Qiao bringing her into this team, she wouldn't have met Qinchi.

A-Class Danger Zone, Jing City.

It was already the third day of practice for the graduates of The Second School, but every day in Jing City felt like an eternity.

The plants near the temporary rest point might be high-level mutated plants; the rustling overhead could be caused by A-Class beasts. Even sitting down to rest could result in touching a mutant insect.

They were busy during the day and couldn't rest at night due to numerous nocturnal beasts. No matter what repellents they used, some beasts always found their way over.

Despite the exhaustion, these A-Class graduates were strong and had mostly completed their squad's kill tasks. They just needed to hold on for a few more hours before returning to base.

However, there were still a couple of squads that hadn't finished their tasks and were still exploring the mountains.

"Have all the beasts been killed by others? Why haven't we encountered any in so long?"

"We five have enough B-Class and C-Class crystals, but we still need two A-Class ones."

"I never thought I'd look forward to encountering an A-Class beast."

With four combatants and one healer, the atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Suddenly, one of them stopped and pointed to a thick tree nearby.

The teammates looked up and saw a black area among the lush green leaves, reflecting sunlight eerily.

There was something on the tree.

As the students reached this conclusion, the black area slowly moved, changing angle and revealing a layer of black scales tinged with green.

A snake, an A-Class black snake as thick as a human waist.

The five students, instead of fearing, were delighted. The healer stepped back, while the four combatants launched simultaneous attacks.

Within minutes, the fifty-meter-long A-Class black snake lay motionless on the ground.

The students happily approached, one digging out the crystal core while the others skinned the snake.

The pungent smell of blood spread with the heat of the day.

In a deep cave a hundred meters away, a pair of huge crimson eyes suddenly opened in the darkness, looking towards the cave entrance.

As the owner of those eyes crawled out along the winding tunnel, the five students focused on processing the A-Class black snake remained unaware.

At the gathering point filled with students, whispers about their experiences suddenly paused when they noticed Teacher Qin, who had accompanied them for two days without once intervening, emerging from his tent. He wore The Second School's issued black A-Class battle armor, broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, and long-legged. Though not as muscular as the accompanying instructors, he was the most striking in his armor.

His slender, lean figure made the black armor appear both imposing and austere.

As their gaze rose, his handsome face was gentle, instantly transforming the armor's coldness into elegance and restraint.

It seemed as if he were here not to accompany students through trials but to casually admire the unique scenery of the A-Class danger zone.

Facing the varied looks from the students, Qinchi said to an instructor: "I still have some time. I'll go collect two more mutated plants."

Instructor: "Should I assign some students to accompany you?"

Qinchi: "No need. I won't go far."

The instructor respected his decision.

Qinchi walked out of the gathering place calmly, concealed behind a tree, and changed from his Second School instructor uniform into his own S-Class battle armor.

The fire dragon roared excitedly in his mind, eager to fight.

Qinchi: "Just one beast, no need for you."