City 0551 was one of the key cities targeted for reclamation, and Liu Qingling had brought her squad here many times.
She was naturally very familiar with the villas in the Supply Base, especially Villa A3, where she had stayed several times.
Under her lead, they soon arrived at the five-story building.
The first floor had a living room, kitchen, and other facilities; the second was a training hall; the third and fourth were bedrooms; and the fifth was a garden.
"This is ridiculous. Why make a temporary place to stay so luxurious..."
Xu Ai stared at the villa's décor, speechless.
"The country is encouraging this to attract Martial Artists to come here and hunt monsters."
Yu Fei explained with a smile. After hearing that, Ye Yu gave Xu Ai some more context.
"Actually, ever since the war ended, the country has been planning to reclaim the land occupied by monsters. Back then, humanity was at a disadvantage, so the only way to encourage more Martial Artists to emerge was through things like special privileges. At the same time, the country was investing heavily in technology. If we had more powerful Laser Cannons, or ones that were easier to carry, the threat posed by monsters would be much smaller."
"Oh, and the Xu Family helped build these villas. They were quick to respond to the country's call."
Qin Yi chimed in.
"I wouldn't know anything about that. I never got involved in the family business, and I never asked. They wouldn't tell me about it unless they had to."
After all, it was better to focus on practicing martial arts when she could. There was no need to worry about business matters alongside Xu Gang and the others.
They chatted and laughed as they put their things down and took a good rest.
By dusk, Xu Ai had changed into her gear and was following Liu Qingling and the others out of the Supply Base, heading for the Wilderness Zone.
They were all traveling light. Yu Fei, the firearms expert, carried some extra ammunition, and Gu Zizhen, the combat medic, brought some extra medicine. The rest had only packed some compressed food and a few support items.
To help Martial Artists conserve their strength, the military's base was not far from the city. After walking for a little over an hour, Xu Ai and the others reached its outskirts.
"FD Toll Station?"
Xu Ai looked at the abandoned facility. There was only a sign with the letter "F" on it, and she couldn't help guessing.
"Huh? You actually know?"
Jun Xia looked surprised.
Seeing her expression, Xu Ai knew she'd guessed right.
She hadn't been here in her previous life, but she'd heard of this toll station.
"Haha, I looked it up."
"Not bad, Xiao Ai."
Yu Fei smiled. She'd been here plenty of times and still hadn't known the name of the station.
After all, even the oldest among them, Liu Qingling and Ye Yu, had been born near the end of the Grand Nirvana. Hefei City had already fallen by then, so knowing the city's name was impressive enough. Who would bother paying attention to the name of a toll station?
If Jun Xia hadn't passed through here on her first trip to the Wilderness Zone and taken the trouble to ask around, she probably wouldn't have known it was called FD, either.
"This city is one of the country's key targets for reclamation. So although King-level and Lord-level monsters live here, they don't dare show themselves easily. As long as we don't enter the innermost area, we generally won't run into them."
Liu Qingling walked along, explaining things to Xu Ai.
"We'll start in the outskirts. There are mostly Monster Soldier Level monsters here, along with a few Monster General Level ones. If you do well, we'll gradually move into the middle zone."
The monsters had gained intelligence and naturally established their own hierarchy. The farther in they lived, the stronger they were.
Jun Xia suddenly stopped Liu Qingling.
"Wait. There are a few Iron-Horned Savage Bulls up ahead. Judging by their size, three are D-rank and two are E-rank. The E-rank ones will be perfect for Xiao Ai's first fight."
She was a Spirit Reader, and her "vision" reached much farther than the others'.
"An entire group of Monster General Level monsters out here? What great luck..." Qin Yi muttered.
"Sure is. Xiao Fei, Zizhen, find a good position and snipe that D-rank Iron-Horned Savage Bull. Xiao Xia, stay with Xiao Yu and take out one of the D-ranks. I'll kill another D-rank. Qin Yi, hold off one of the E-ranks, and Xiao Ai, take the other."
Ye Yu gave out the orders.
"Got it!" Qin Yi cheerfully raised her shield, ready to join Xu Ai once Yu Fei and Jun Xia had dealt with the other two Iron-Horned Savage Bulls.
E-rank meant Elementary Beast General Level, which was equivalent to a Low-level War General among humans—the level of strength Xu Ai had shown Liu Qingling and the others.
They knew Xu Ai was physically strong, but they still needed to test her in actual combat. That was why they'd arranged things this way.
"Xiao Ai, remember: if you can kill it in one strike, don't waste any extra movements. And after you kill a monster, make sure to finish it off. Don't let your guard down."
Liu Qingling reminded her.
Yu Fei, Gu Zizhen, and Ye Yu left to find a tall building with a good view, while the others slowly approached the five Iron-Horned Savage Bulls.
"I'm ready," Yu Fei's voice came through the communicator.
"Okay. Jun Xia, get ready. Once Yu Fei takes down that D-rank, you need to quickly kill another D-rank Iron-Horned Savage Bull."
"No problem."
Yu Fei set up her sniper rifle and aimed at the strongest-looking Iron-Horned Savage Bull. After waiting a moment, she squeezed the trigger. The bullet, powerful enough to kill a High-level Beast General, struck true, entering through its eye and piercing its skull.
"Moo!!!"
The leader's death threw the other Iron-Horned Savage Bulls into a panic. In the next instant, a flying knife pierced through one of their necks.
Liu Qingling and the other two rushed forward, intercepting the three monsters that had grown restless.
"Mu!!!"
The three Iron-Horned Savage Bulls spotted them, spirits lifting as they charged.
"Hey, you brutes! Over here!"
Qin Yi slammed her spiked shield into the face of the E-rank Iron-Horned Savage Bull, then leaped aside. Then...
Then Xu Ai ran her sword through the neck of the other E-rank Iron-Horned Savage Bull...
"Uh..."
Liu Qingling had only just killed the remaining D-rank monster when she saw that Xu Ai had already finished her fight. She couldn't help feeling surprised.
"Not bad, right? I told you I was strong."
Xu Ai had kept some of her strength hidden, but what she'd shown, combined with her combat skills, was already enough to hold her own in an established squad.
Seeing Xu Ai finish her fight, Qin Yi also froze for a moment. Then she braced her shield against the Iron-Horned Savage Bull's charge and swung her knife upward, beheading it in one stroke.
"I thought we'd be fighting for a while. Didn't expect it to be over almost as soon as we started."
Qin Yi sheathed her knife and walked over to Liu Qingling and Xu Ai.
Liu Qingling nodded.
"I nearly forgot. Xiao Ai is the Ruthless Councilor's disciple. We really shouldn't underestimate you."
Of course, she said that, but even if she had the chance to do it all over again, Liu Qingling would still have asked Xu Ai to show what she could do. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known how to assign her a role in the squad.
Xu Ai hadn't taken being underestimated to heart. Her attention was focused on Qin Yi's shield.
"By the way, Yi-jie, what was that shield technique you used just now?"
Qin Yi looked confused, then followed Xu Ai's gaze to her shield and suddenly understood.
"You mean the way I blocked the Iron-Horned Savage Bull's charge just now?"
The sight of her taking the bull's charge head-on had been quite astonishing.
At the same level, monsters had stronger physiques than humans. And the Iron-Horned Savage Bull had been charging straight at Qin Yi—under normal circumstances, she should've been sent flying!
"Actually, just now Qin Yi used two techniques: our Huaxia's Immovable, and the one from Europe called..."
"Qingling-jie!"
Liu Qingling fell silent and gestured for Qin Yi to continue.
Qin Yi huffed, then went on explaining to Xu Ai.
"Xiao Ai, you know about Force Amplitude, right? It's when you release your strength several times over to deal greater damage. But the technique I learned, Immovable, does the opposite.
"If an attack can be amplified, why not defense? Xiao Ai, try hitting me."
Qin Yi lowered her shield and patted her soft chest. After a moment's hesitation, she patted her shoulder instead.
"Hit me here, Xiao Ai."
Xu Ai nodded, clenched her right fist, and punched Qin Yi's shoulder with the strength of a High-level Warrior. Qin Yi's soft shoulder felt as hard as steel. Xu Ai hadn't hurt her; instead, her own fist stung a little.
"Hm?"
Xu Ai glanced at her fist, suddenly intrigued.
Could this be defensive amplitude?
"That's defensive amplitude. You amplify your body's defense to improve its resistance to impacts and reduce the damage you take."
Qin Yi raised her shield again, then swung it hard to the side. The shield produced several sharp bursts of sound.
"With defensive amplitude on my body and Force Amplitude on my shield, even a Lord-level monster can't take me down quickly. That's what makes me the Willow Leaf Squad's main defender."
"But defensive amplitude is pretty difficult to learn. There's only one technique for it on Earth, Immovable, and its maximum amplitude is only three times. Without the shield technique Holy Shield to supplement it, it really wouldn't be very useful."
Jun Xia took the opportunity to knock her down a peg.
Qin Yi glared at her, unconvinced.
"Tch, then why don't you learn it?"
"Why would I? I'm a Spirit Reader."
"Holy Shield is famous worldwide for how difficult it is. It's even more outrageous than the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade and World Destroyer. Fewer than 500 Martial Artists worldwide have mastered the basics of Holy Shield, and fewer than 30 have reached a twofold amplitude. I'm one of them, if I may say so myself."
"I'm a Spirit Reader."
"Can you withstand a Lord-level monster's attack?"
"I'm a Spirit Reader."
"Can you—"
"I'm a Spirit Reader."
"Damn it!"
As Qin Yi and Jun Xia bickered, Xu Ai's attention remained on defensive amplitude.
On Earth in the original story, defensive amplitude was a purely theoretical technique, a way to strengthen one's defenses through amplification.
But it was only a theory. At this point in the original story, Earth had no defensive amplitude!
So where had the technique come from...
Hen Ren opened her eyes and wearily left the Gravity Chamber. She took out her phone and used her access privileges to look it up.
"I see. The detailed Force Amplitude technique I gave them gave the creator of defensive amplitude plenty of inspiration. That was how they came up with Immovable..."
Still, this showed that her Force Amplitude technique needed to be optimized. Having attack amplitude without defensive amplitude was incomplete!
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