"Xiao Fei, what are you doing? Don't zone out during a fight."
Just as the beast's claws were about to kill the boy, a large hand reached out from behind and yanked him back, pulling him out of danger.
After saving the boy, Pat said a few words and left him alone. It wasn't that Pat didn't want to reprimand him; there simply wasn't time.
His eyes darted around, scanning the battlefield. Whenever he saw someone about to die or unable to hold on, he rushed over to help.
This kept happening across the battlefield. From above, one could see more than a dozen figures darting back and forth across the field.
Half an hour later, the battle was over, leaving hundreds of beast corpses on the ground.
Afraid the smell of blood would attract other beasts, everyone quickly cleaned up the battlefield and moved to another location.
In a secluded valley, Pat began his lecture.
"Honestly, you've all disappointed me. I never expected to raise a bunch of useless fools."
"Every one of you is much stronger than the beasts, yet when a fight breaks out, you just stand there waiting to die. You don't even know how to fight back. Is this how I usually teach you?"
"And some of you lose all sense when you start fighting. Your companions are right beside you, nearly dying, and you don't lend a hand. Instead, you charge into battle. What, are you trying to show off?"
The boys and girls were mortified by Pat's words. Those who had nearly died at the beasts' hands lowered their flushed faces, while those who had been exhilarated by slaughtering their way through the fight slowly calmed down.
"Go back and think carefully about your own shortcomings and what you could've done better. You need to understand that we're one big family, and the people beside you are your family. Now get going."
Pat spoke with exasperation.
The boys and girls left one after another, leaving only a dozen or so older members behind.
"Boss, coming to the Wild Grasslands was absolutely the right call," Second said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I didn't realize they had so many problems," Fourth agreed.
"I watched them closely. They do have their strong points. At the very least, no one ran away when the fight started, and no one used a companion as a shield," Third offered.
"Looks like they're still a long way from standing on their own. We'll have to put more effort into them from now on and use this opportunity to bring them all along," Pat concluded.
"Everyone, get some rest early too. We've got a long time ahead of us. I plan to stay here for a year."
No one objected, and they all left. Only Fifth stayed behind.
"Fifth, what is it?" Pat asked, puzzled.
"Boss, I feel like something about this wasn't right, but my ears didn't pick up anything unusual. Did you notice anything?" Fifth voiced his doubts.
Pat shook his head. He'd spent the day keeping an eye on the youngsters in the team and hadn't paid attention to anything else. Still, he didn't dismiss Fifth's concern and made a mental note of it.
"Fifth, I'll keep an eye out from now on. Tell me if you notice anything."
Four Ears's instincts were right.
About five hundred miles away, a group was following them. The incident that had befallen the team that day had been caused by this very group.
"C-Captain, how... how is this possible?" The dwarf stared at the numbers on the Energy Detector in disbelief, his voice trembling.
"Damn it, what's going on? How did their energy readings get so high?" Hatton was dumbfounded, completely stunned by the numbers on the device.
They weren't the only ones. Everyone else was just as shocked. To some extent, they all knew what the Budaso Adventure Team had been like a year ago.
Silence fell. They looked at one another, unsure whether they should go ahead with their plan.
Hatton was torn too. With energy readings like those, if they were discovered, the other side could wipe out their entire team by sending just one person.
"Captain, why don't we retreat?" A burly, dark-skinned man broke the silence.
Hatton's expression shifted, but he still didn't respond.
"We can't leave, Captain!" The dwarf jolted. If they gave up, he'd never get another chance to avenge his younger brother. The thought made him blurt out the words.
"Whoosh—" Everyone turned to look at the dwarf, annoyed that he'd spoken out of turn. But since the captain hadn't said anything yet, they didn't dare make a move.
"Pike, what do you think? Let's hear it."
"Captain, their energy readings are high, sure, but we don't have to fight them ourselves or even show our faces. We just need to follow them from a distance and wait for an opportunity."
"I refuse to believe there isn't a monster in the Wild Grasslands that can take him down."
Hatton looked at Pike and said meaningfully, "And how can you guarantee there is?"
Pike knew that if he couldn't make a convincing case, the captain might back down. He gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and said, "Captain, I'll go deeper into the Wild Grasslands to scout, but you have to give me the latest Energy Detector."
"Pike, you must be dreaming. Your life isn't worth a fraction of that detector. Who knows if you're just planning to run away?" Before Hatton could speak, the dark-skinned man could no longer hold back and jumped in to berate him.
Pike ignored the dark-skinned man. He simply met Hatton's gaze with a resolute look, waiting for the captain's final decision.
Hatton understood what Pike was getting at. The kid wasn't particularly capable, but his Talent Skill was quite useful.
He could lower his presence so that neither monsters nor people would notice him. Even an Energy Detector could be fooled, as long as it wasn't used right in front of him.
The only exception was if the energy levels between them differed by more than a hundredfold.
But how likely was that? Pike's own energy reading was 300, so anyone trying to detect him would need a reading of at least 30,000.
As far as Hatton knew, he'd never seen a person or monster with a reading above 15,000.
Hatton weighed the pros and cons. He wasn't worried Pike would run away; he knew how devoted Pike was to his younger brother. But the price of the latest Energy Detector made him hesitate.
"Captain, are you really going to give up this chance? You know this is our last opportunity. Do you want to spend your whole life under Pat's thumb, always hiding and running?"
To avenge his younger brother, Pike didn't care if he offended Hatton. He pressed on, striking at the captain's deepest fears.
Pike's words made Hatton reach a decision. There was no chance of reconciliation between him and Pat; one of them had to go down.
He gave Pike a cold look, then turned and went into the tent. When he came back out, he was carrying a half-meter-long briefcase.
"Then I'll be waiting for your good news. Don't let me down."
Pike knew he wouldn't survive. His eyes were fixed on the briefcase, and his mind held only one thought: revenge.