Constant Little Moves

"Xiao Fei, what are you doing? Don't zone out during a fight."

Seeing the youth about to die under a claw, a large hand reached out from behind, yanking him backward and pulling him out of danger.

After saving the youth, Pat said his piece and ignored him; it wasn't that Pat didn't want to discipline him, but the current situation wouldn't allow it.

His eyes darted constantly, scanning the battlefield, and whenever he saw someone nearing death or unable to hold on, he would rush over to save them.

This scene played out repeatedly across the battlefield; looking down from above, one could see over a dozen figures constantly weaving through the fray.

Half an hour later, the battle ended, leaving hundreds of beast carcasses on the ground.

Fearing the scent of blood would attract other beasts, the group quickly cleaned up the battlefield and began to relocate.

Inside a secluded valley, Pat began his lecture.

"Honestly, you all have disappointed me. I didn't expect to have raised a bunch of trash."

"Each of you has a combat power far higher than the beasts, yet when the fighting started, you just stood there waiting to die, not even knowing how to resist. Is this how I usually teach you?"

"And some of you just fought recklessly. Your companions were dying right beside you, and you didn't know how to lend a hand, only caring about rushing into the fray. What, are you trying to show off how capable you are?"

The boys and girls were filled with shame under Pat's words; those who had nearly died at the hands of the beasts hung their heads, faces flushed red, while those who had been excited by their own slaughter slowly calmed down.

"Go back and think about it yourselves. Reflect on your flaws and where you failed. You must know that we are a big family, and those beside you are your kin. Get out of here."

Pat said, his tone filled with frustration at their lack of improvement.

The boys and girls left one after another, leaving only the dozen or so veterans behind.

"Leader, coming to the Wild Grasslands this time was the right call," Second remarked with emotion.

"Indeed, we never realized they had so many issues before," Fourth chimed in.

"I observed them carefully; they still have their merits. At the very least, no one deserted, and no one used their companions as a human shield," Third offered her perspective.

"It seems they are still far from being able to stand on their own. We will need to put in more effort later and try to use this opportunity to bring them up to speed," Pat concluded.

"Everyone, get some rest early. The days ahead are long, and I plan to stay here for a year."

No one had any objections and they dispersed, leaving only Fifth behind.

"Fifth, what's wrong?" Pat looked at Fifth, puzzled.

"Leader, I feel like this whole thing isn't simple, but my ears haven't picked up any issues. Have you sensed anything?" Fifth voiced the doubts in his heart.

Pat shook his head. Today his energy had been entirely focused on the little ones in the team, and he hadn't noticed anything else. However, since Fifth had brought it up, he didn't take it lightly and filed the matter away in his mind.

"Fifth, I'll be on the lookout from now on. If you discover anything, let me know."

Fifth's Four Ears intuition was correct.

About 500 miles away, a group was tailing them; the incident their team encountered today was orchestrated by these people.

"Leader, this... this... how is this possible?" The dwarf stared at the numbers on the energy detector in disbelief, his voice trembling.

"Damn it, what is going on? How is their energy reading so high, one by one?" Hatton was also dumbfounded, completely terrified by the numbers on the device.

It wasn't just the two of them; the others were the same. They all knew, to varying degrees, the state of the Budaso Adventure Team a year ago.

The air grew silent. They looked at one another, unsure if they should proceed with their original plan.

Hatton was also hesitating. With the opponent's energy readings, if they were discovered, the other side could wipe out their entire team by sending just one person.

"Leader, why don't we retreat?" A dark-skinned, burly man broke the silence.

Hatton's expression flickered, and he remained silent for a long time.

"We can't leave, Leader!" The dwarf jolted. If they gave up now, he would never have a chance to avenge his brother. Thinking of this, he blurted it out.

Swish— Everyone's gaze turned toward the dwarf, blaming him for his loose tongue, yet because the leader hadn't spoken, they dared not make any extra moves.

"Pike, what are your thoughts? Speak up."

"Leader, their energy readings are high, but we don't have to do it ourselves, nor do we need to face them head-on. We just need to follow them from a distance and wait for an opportunity."

"I don't believe there isn't a monster in the Wild Grasslands that can take them down."

Hatton looked at Pike and said meaningfully, "How can you guarantee there is one?"

Pike knew that if he couldn't prove this, the leader might back down. Gritting his teeth, he made up his mind and said, "Leader, I will head deep into the Wild Grasslands to scout, but you must give me the latest energy detector."

"Pike, you must be dreaming. Your life isn't even worth a fraction of that detector. Who knows if you're just trying to run away?" Before Hatton could speak, the dark-skinned burly man could no longer hold back and jumped out to rebuke him.

Pike didn't respond to the burly man, only looking at Hatton with a firm gaze, waiting for his final decision.

Hatton understood Pike's intent. The kid didn't have much skill, but his Talent Skill was quite useful.

He could lower his presence, making it so that neither monsters nor humans noticed him, and he could even fool energy detectors as long as they weren't scanning him directly.

Unless the energy gap between the two was over a hundredfold.

But that was impossible; Pike himself had an energy reaction of 300 points, so to detect him, one would need a reaction of over 30,000.

And based on what Hatton knew, he had never seen a person or monster with a reading over 15,000.

Hatton weighed the pros and cons. He wasn't worried about Pike running away—he knew Pike's feelings for his brother—but the price of the latest energy detector made him hesitate.

The latest model was not only easy to carry, but its energy detection limit reached 100,000.

"Commander, are you really going to give up this chance? You know this is our last opportunity. Do you want to be stepped on by Pat forever, living a life of hiding?"

Pike, in order to avenge his brother, didn't care about offending Hatton and continued to press, striking at the commander's deepest concern.

Pike's words made Hatton make up his mind. There was no room for reconciliation between him and Pat; one of them had to fall.

He cast a cold glance at Pike, then turned and entered his tent. When he emerged, he was carrying a half-meter-sized briefcase.

"Then I'll await your good news. I hope you don't disappoint me."

Pike knew he wouldn't survive. His eyes were fixed on the briefcase, his heart consumed only by the thought of revenge.