Chapter 35

Chapter 35

When Meng Li returned with an A-grade crystal core and two severed A-grade hawk claws, Xu Qiao had just finished dissecting the heads of a dozen low-level tiger-striped hawks, while near the entrance lay over a hundred more tiger-striped hawk corpses waiting to be processed.

There were few usable materials on flying beasts; a C-grade crystal core could be exchanged for two thousand points, and a pair of C-grade claws would fetch about three hundred points.

But there were too many of these tiger-striped hawks—perhaps three hundred in total. Half had already been burned down to only their crystal cores, while the other half still awaited processing.

Xu Qiao's hands were tired but happy: "Did the graduates from The Second School poke a hornet's nest?"

Meng Li replied, "Perhaps an S-grade mutant beast appeared, and the tiger-striped hawks feared being caught in the crossfire, so they evacuated."

Xu Qiao tossed her two crystal cores: "Both wind-type. Absorb them first; otherwise, I'm afraid someone might show up and try to snatch them from us."

Meng Li caught the four thousand points worth of crystal cores, paused, absorbed one with one hand, and used the other to hold a dagger and dissect the crystal cores.

The scorching forest was utterly still, and the battle aura left behind by the A-grade tiger-striped hawk and the S-grade mutant deterred other beasts from approaching rashly.

After working for over twenty minutes, Xu Qiao plunged her dagger into another C-grade tiger-striped hawk's head, revealing a hint of black amidst the blood.

Among all types of crystal cores, only spatial cores were black!

Suppressing her urge to scream, Xu Qiao quickly dug out the crystal core and whispered to Meng Li: "Look!"

Meng Li looked up and saw the black crystal core between Xu Qiao's blood-stained fingertips. Her calm face showed a hint of joy: "How big is it?"

Xu Qiao infused her mental energy into the crystal core and found that it contained a cubic meter of space.

Even this small amount was cause for celebration. Even a single cubic meter could bring much convenience to life and could even save lives in critical moments.

Meng Li glanced at Sun Fushan, who was still unconscious, removed her A-grade armor, and let Xu Qiao store it inside her small space, along with the pile of crystal cores and hawk claws.

After finishing everything, the two buried the remaining tiger-striped hawk corpses in a pit and set them on fire to prevent other mutated creatures from scavenging.

Checking the time, it was two-thirty.

They took off Sun Fushan's armor and took turns carrying their slightly overweight but tall teammate back to the aircraft.

They turned out to be the last group to return from the danger zone.

They laid Sun Fushan across the middle seat, with Xu Qiao and Meng Li sitting at either end, covered in dirt and sweat, looking quite disheveled.

A mercenary asked curiously, "Did you encounter high-grade mutants?"

Xu Qiao wiped her sweat and replied, "Yes, we almost died. Luckily, the base sent strong reinforcements in time."

"Yes, I saw it too. It was an S-grade dual-element wind and fire mutant!"

"Wind and fire dual-element? Could it be someone from the Lin family?"

"I didn't see the spirit form, but it must be the Lin family. Marshal Lin rarely fights, and Lin Jingan was recently in the news for killing an S-grade sea beast at the coastal base. Today's person must be Lin Zheng; he looks quite similar."

These three Lins were well-known S-grade phoenixes in Southeast Base, spanning three generations.

"The current generation of the Lin family has produced two S-grades. Little Phoenix is only sixteen, but she's Lin Zheng's cousin."

"Could it be related to the siblings not having the same grandmother? The current Marshal's wife is his second marriage."

"Speaking of which, Little Phoenix's father seems quite low-key. He hasn't been in the news much over the years; I can't even remember his name."

"I remember, it's Lin Wengui. Because he's A-grade, there are tens of thousands of A-grade mutants in the base, so his phoenix spirit form is special, but his abilities don't stand out."

The crowd began discussing the Lin family, no longer paying attention to the trio who had survived the ordeal.

Xu Qiao wasn't particularly concerned about the identity of the S-grade mutant. She glanced at the sleeping Sun Fushan and then at herself.

Her water ability had also upgraded.

Based on the premise that her spirit form had upgraded, she speculated that each upgrade might be triggered by a combination of quantity and emotional stimulation, referencing Meng Li's example.

During her three years at military school, Xu Qiao focused on training her wood-type healing ability. Life at the school was busy but stable, and she only truly experienced the dangers of survival during her graduation practice.

Not long after the practice ended, Xu Qiao's lotus flower spirit form reached B-grade.

In the following two years, Xu Qiao used her wood-type ability at the clinic during the day and secretly practiced her water ability at night, hardly missing a single night. Within those two years, she completed four basic missions, and this weekend, she used her water ability extensively to kill mutants, encountering a life-threatening situation before the upgrade.

Was it her intense desire to survive that stimulated the mutation of her spirit form, or did her spirit form want to protect her, catalyzing the enhancement of her powers?

Without academic support from researchers, Xu Qiao could only speculate wildly.

The aircraft picked up more mercenaries from several safe zones and landed at the base promptly at six in the evening.

Sun Fushan was still unconscious.

After discussing with Meng Li, they decided to wait for Sun Fushan to wake up and have him, the idle librarian, submit the mission directly to the Mercenary Association in the central area. They also planned to entrust him with handling the pile of crystal cores and hawk claws in Xu Qiao's small space, as it would be too conspicuous for two C-grade part-time mercenaries to suddenly present hundreds of C-grade crystal cores.

The sunset was blinding. Meng Li placed the heavy captain on a bench near the association and looked at Xu Qiao questioningly.

Xu Qiao: "…Should we take him home? I've never been to the central area."

Meng Li: "Neither have I, but the deputy marshal's address should be searchable."

Xu Qiao remained silent. It was easy to search, but the problem was that it was the deputy marshal's residence, and the idea of showing up unannounced made her feel pressured.

Meng Li was even less keen on going to Sun's house. Staring at Sun Fushan's chubby face, she whispered, "Can pinching his lip wake him up?"

Xu Qiao: "…We can try. Even if it doesn't work, I can heal his lip."

With the healer's assurance, Meng Li had no reservations. She bent down and pressed her thumbnail firmly onto Sun Fushan's lip.

The skin touched by her fingertip was really soft, but in the next second, something shell-like pushed her thumb away.

A dark green turtle shell mental entity abruptly appeared below Sun Fushan's nose. After waiting for a while and not being attacked again, the turtle shell disappeared.

Xu Qiao, Meng Li: "…"

At this moment, Xu Qiao received a call from Lu Yang, and Meng Li took the opportunity to call home to report that she was safe.

Both calls were short. After hanging up, Xu Qiao sat back down on the chair and continued to exchange glances with Meng Li.

Her bracelet beeped, and Xu Qiao opened it.

Qinchi: "Back already? I just got off The Second School’s shuttle."

Xu Qiao: "Yes, did something happen over there?"

Qinchi: "Encountered an S-class black snake; it has been dealt with. It's said that some A-class beasts escaped to other danger zones. Did you encounter any in An County?"

Xu Qiao: "We encountered a group of tiger-striped harriers! Fortunately, we had strong support, but the captain's mental energy is depleted, and he's still unconscious."

She also sent a picture of Sun Fushan's sleeping face.

Qinchi: "Still at the Mercenary Association? I'll come find you."

Xu Qiao, thinking about his mysterious connections, curiously asked: "Could your connections possibly be related to Vice Marshal Sun?"

Qinchi: "My connections know Vice Marshal Sun, but I've never dealt with him personally."

Meng Li suddenly pointed at Sun Fushan's communication bracelet, which was in silent mode, with the screen flashing.

Xu Qiao lifted the captain's arm and saw a call from "Big Brother" displayed on the screen.

She looked at Meng Li.

Meng Li stepped back two paces.

Xu Qiao had no choice but to answer the call on Sun Fushan's behalf.

A deep voice came from the other end: "Since you're back, why didn't you say anything?"

Xu Qiao: "…Hello, I'm his teammate. The captain's mental energy was depleted while protecting us from the beasts, and he's been unconscious ever since, but don't worry, he's fine physically."

Sun Fushan's big brother must be in the military, and as an A-class ability user, his rank wouldn't be low, so formal respect was warranted!

"Hello, thank you for taking care of him. Could you send me your current address? I'll come pick him up."

Xu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief: "We're at the Mercenary Association in the West District of the Second Ring."

"Alright, I should be there in about forty minutes."

Saying forty minutes, Sun Xuan arrived in less than thirty from the central district.

He was a robust man, nearly as tall as Qinchi but twice as broad, wearing a set of black casual clothes. His sun-tanned face exuded both the dignity of a high-ranking officer and a sense of trustworthiness.

Standing before the two twenty-year-old girls, Sun Xuan extended his hand and shook hands with both of them: "I heard about you from Xiao Shan. Thank you for not minding his stuttering."

Xu Qiao smiled: "It's our honor to have such a good captain."

She briefly recounted the situation.

Sun Xuan: "Unity and mutual aid—that's the essence of teamwork. You're all excellent. Today isn't convenient, but if you have time, please visit our home."

Xu Qiao could only nod.

Sun Xuan picked up his brother under one arm, bid farewell to the girls, and strode towards the parking lot, his straight back making Sun Fushan look like a sack of potatoes.

Xu Qiao stared in disbelief—couldn't he at least carry his brother more comfortably?

As Sun Xuan's car left the parking lot, a familiar black sedan drove in.

Seeing this, Meng Li said to Xu Qiao: "Go find Qinchi. I'll take the subway."

Without giving Xu Qiao a chance to stop her, she ran off.

Xu Qiao had no choice but to approach Qinchi's car alone.

Qinchi was already waiting by the passenger side, with short neat hair and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top, looking relaxed after teaching.

Glancing at Meng Li's retreating figure, he asked: "Want to chase after her?"

Xu Qiao: "No, she doesn't like causing trouble, even for her teammates."

Qinchi then looked at the dirt and blood stains on her armor.

Xu Qiao quickly explained: "We left these marks intentionally to avoid suspicion about our gains."

Not wanting to dirty the pristine seats of the luxury car, Xu Qiao walked to the rear, put on her helmet, and used her water ability to thoroughly rinse her full suit of armor twice.

Though she was wearing armor, washing herself in front of him seemed a bit odd, so Qinchi turned around to admire the sunset.

Water splashed, and the fire dragon in her mind eagerly wanted to help dry her off.

Qinchi, of course, would not let it out.

Xu Qiao removed the water droplets from her armor herself and returned, completely dry.

The golden sunset instantly enveloped her, her fair cheeks hidden behind the helmet, revealing only her clear eyes.

Qinchi helped her open the car door.

Xu Qiao smiled her thanks, bowing her head as she got into the vehicle.

After Qinchi got in, he noticed that his little teammate had no intention of taking off her helmet and asked with amusement, "Aren't you suffocating?"

Xu Qiao said helplessly, "My hair is drenched in sweat."

Qinchi recalled for a few seconds, then took out a white towel with packaging from his storage space. He tore it open and laid the towel over the back of the seat behind her. "Take it off; otherwise, I'll feel like we're about to go on a mission."

Xu Qiao: "..."