"What? What are you trying to do? Make my dreams come true with your own two hands? Don't you have any idea what level I'm at compared to you?"
Faced with Xu Le's barrage of questions, Bai Jing lowered her head, a little dejected.
"I thought you were going to do something big and needed help."
"The truly big things in this world aren't for people like you and me to do. Understand?"
"Understood."
"All right, pack up. Get ready to head back."
Hearing Xu Le's instructions, Bai Jing felt a little strange. Since when had she needed to follow his orders?
But when Bai Jing looked at Xu Le's retreating back and the black cat standing on his shoulder,
the words on the tip of her tongue refused to come out.
"The mission isn't over yet. It'll probably take another day."
"Mm."
The next day, Bai Jing led the others to rendezvous with another team.
After half a day spent searching for the members of Squad Two, they found five bodies in total.
Including the body from before, they had found the remains of six people. The other four were nowhere to be found.
Perhaps they had simply missed them, or perhaps beasts and Oddities had eaten them.
The team observed a few minutes of silence for them.
That was a Mercenary's life. You never knew which would come first, tomorrow or death.
Living well in the present and looking after those around you was the best choice.
"This time, we're really heading back."
Standing on the vehicle, Bai Jing spoke steadily.
"Yeah." Xu Le acknowledged her without any intention of saying more. His research into the types of Oddities was still ongoing, and it might take a long time.
Then there was the path to Level 5.