"What on earth is going on? This is downright bizarre."
A few War Soldiers, uneasy and wary, crept through the danger-ridden wilderness.
They passed straight by the woods near the camp.
That area was full of first- and second-order Demonic Beasts, which offered them no worthwhile training.
Even the weakest War Soldiers had reached the Third-Order Martial Disciple level after half a month of intensive training.
Once they had proper training methods, the first stretch after entering the Military Camp would be the time when their strength grew fastest!
So the moment they entered the wilderness training grounds, they headed deeper in.
But after coming all this way, they hadn't seen any of the four- or five-star Demonic Beasts, let alone even a few of the weak third-order ones.
"Did the Demonic Beasts here hear we were coming and flee ahead of time to warn the others?"
The War Soldiers beside him rolled their eyes at that.
That guy had skin thicker than the city walls!
He chuckled, paying no attention to their reactions, and strode ahead.
The others reminded him to "stay safe" before following after him.
War Soldiers were training in other directions, so they had no choice but to stick to this route.
Before long, a pungent smell of blood hit them.
When the War Soldier in front made out the scene ahead, his expression changed drastically. He shouted to the others behind him,
"You... You guys, come take a look!"
Seeing the panic on his face, the others exchanged glances, then hurried up the slope.
The next moment, their pupils all contracted at once. They stood rooted to the spot, stunned by what lay before them.
The overgrown patch of grass was strewn with Demonic Beast carcasses, each of them seemingly intact.
If they hadn't been sure the beasts' chests weren't rising and falling, and that they were lying in pools of blood,
they might even have thought the beasts were merely resting!
More than a dozen Demonic Beasts lay "quietly" on the ground.
"Who... Who did this?"
They stared in shock.
Most of the Demonic Beasts here were herbivores.
To survive in the wilderness, these beasts were even more alert to danger than carnivores.
To keep them from escaping, someone would have had to kill them almost simultaneously!
Otherwise, the slightest disturbance would send them fleeing.
But killing fourth- and fifth-order Demonic Beasts spread across such a wide area all at once, in such a short time, was no easy feat.
"Even the veterans probably couldn't pull that off, right?"
"I'm afraid you'd need at least a Martial Artist."
There was a gap in strength between Martial Disciples of different orders, but it was still hard to kill Demonic Beasts without giving them any chance to flee.
"There aren't even any cities near the camp. Who could be out here?"
"Could it be someone from Sword-toothed Country?"
Remembering Guan Shan's earlier claim at camp that they had found spies from Sword-toothed Country, the more they thought about it, the more likely it seemed that spies were responsible.
Excitement surged through them. This was a chance to earn a huge merit!
Gu Han and Gu Chen had helped Guan Shan expose Lei Chao and the other spies, and had been appointed Platoon Leaders. That had put them a full two ranks above the rest of them!
Above War Soldier came Squad Leader, Platoon Leader, Company Commander, Centurion, and Legion Commander.
If they had found traces of spies, they might not be appointed Platoon Leaders, but surely they could at least become Squad Leaders, right?
One of them couldn't wait and ran toward the temporary camp.
But the man at the rear stared at the scattered bodies, his brow furrowed.
"If they were spies, what were they trying to achieve by making such a commotion?"
Judging by the traces, the spy probably hadn't infiltrated the camp.
If he had, with a Martial Artist's strength, he would at least have become a real soldier, not a conscript like them.
If he hadn't infiltrated the camp yet, slaughtering beasts here would only put the camp on alert.
Once the camp tightened its defenses, he'd probably never get another chance to infiltrate it.
But if he was already a War Soldier and came here to kill Demonic Beasts, wouldn't that be a waste of time?
No one could be so bored they'd do something like that.
"Who cares? If there really are spies, we'll have earned a huge merit!"
The man beside him noticed his confusion and said with a grin,
"Even if there aren't any spies, the instructors will still praise us for being cautious."
"Either way, there's no downside."
The War Soldier, who had still been doubtful, nodded after hearing his teammate's explanation, accepting his reasoning.
They returned to the temporary camp, only to find it already packed with people.
Zhang Wen, who had run ahead, stopped short at the sight of the crowd.
He went up and patted one of them on the shoulder.
"Brother, why are you back too?"
The man's grin nearly reached his ears. He couldn't stop smiling.
"I've earned a huge merit this time!"
Zhang Wen's heart sank. A sense of foreboding rose in him, and he asked without thinking,
"What merit? Can you tell me about it?"
The man lowered his voice, acting as though he were afraid someone might overhear. He spoke furtively,
"Our squad found traces of spies!"
"Holy crap!"
Zhang Wen blurted it out before he could stop himself.
He swallowed, suddenly realizing that the people lining up ahead might all have found traces of spies too...
If his squad were the only ones who'd found any, it might have been a windfall beyond their wildest dreams.
But there were probably already more than a hundred War Soldiers here to report clues.
How could they possibly promote that many people to officers?
Meanwhile, the officer in charge of collecting reports at the temporary camp was in a complete frenzy.
For the past few minutes, War Soldiers had been streaming back, saying they'd found suspicious traces of spies.
Of course he had to take something so important seriously. He sent comrades to investigate, and when they found the reports suspicious, he prepared to pass the news up the chain.
But then a second squad returned with a report, followed by a third...
By now, more than a dozen squads had all claimed to have found clues about spies.
Even if he reported the matter and his superiors sent people to investigate, it would probably take until nightfall to check every lead!
"Damn it, where did all these spies come from?"
When Qian Fu saw more people hurrying toward the camp, he quickly stood and raised a hand to quiet the crowd still talking among themselves.
"I've registered all your reports. We'll verify them one by one."
"If we really catch a spy, none of you will be denied the credit you deserve."
At this point, Qian Fu couldn't stay there and hear every report. He could only try to reassure the War Soldiers for now.
Reassured by Qian Fu's promise, the War Soldiers finally relaxed.
Truthfully, they had no idea whether their leads were reliable. They had only come to report them on the off chance they might be useful.
After Qian Fu calmed them down, the crowd soon dispersed and continued searching for Demonic Beasts to train against.
Before you continue