Different Motives

Using a military pass still carried the risk of exposing their identities—there wouldn't be many such documents.

And the City Garrison was not part of the military system after all. Cross-system verification could easily draw attention during the process.

In any case, there were no legitimate forces in the abandoned factory district. It was unlikely anyone would notice abnormalities in Mental Strength.

Sure enough, although Qu Jianlei caused quite a stir when using his illusion technique, they passed through without incident.

During the day, everyone wandered the streets casually, looking every bit like tourists.

Qu Jianlei, however, was not so relaxed. He chose a desolate factory building and built a Secret Camp beneath its foundations.

—Whether they ended up needing it or not, it was better to be prepared.

Six days passed like this. Their preparations were largely complete, and Bentley and the others gradually adjusted their condition.

Before that, they had all felt somewhat relaxed—an idle life really could wear down one's resolve.

Qu Jianlei had previously wanted to remind them that it was nowhere near the time to "sheathe the swords and release the horses to pasture."

They did not even possess real official identities, much less Awakened One records. If they thought they were safe now, then if something happened, they would truly regret it bitterly! But he could not really remind them. Many things were difficult to understand without experiencing them firsthand.

If he kept harping on it, it would only feel like he was selling anxiety, preventing everyone from properly enjoying life.

The harsh conditions of cultivating in the stone caves on Transit Star a few days earlier had helped everyone recover some of that feeling.

Now that they had spent several more days on Tianrui, everyone had truly regained their former drifter's mentality—Xiang Xue