Wu Youren gained a huge amount of experience points alone.
As for the rest, as long as the instructors can keep their promises, they can at least get some mission rewards.
The nearly depleted silver dollar reserves will be significantly replenished.
However, he dared not be negligent. The blazing fire was visible from several hilltops away; who knew what it might attract?
As dawn broke, an off-road vehicle sped towards them from the direction of Suotu Town.
The car didn't stop at all; instead, it used the walkie-talkie to ask if anyone was nearby.
Wu Youren did not answer, because the instructor had already emphasized that he should not contact the outside world.
The car didn't react further; after several unanswered calls, it stumbled and drove straight over.
The road was already full of potholes, and after the battle in the middle of the night, a large number of rocks slid down, making it almost impossible to pass.
However, this off-road vehicle was extremely powerful, almost like an all-terrain vehicle, and it charged through the gap.
I just don't know if the injured people in the car can withstand this kind of ordeal.
When it was fully light, Ke Li was the first to speak up. " Cynthia, you and Little Wu go to the road and clear away the rubble."
This procedure is necessary and has little to do with personal qualities.
The key issue is that if this problem isn't addressed, the main road leading to Suotu Town will be cut off.
However, Wu Youren's main suspicion was that Instructor Ke Li didn't want the two of them to participate in the search for the strange creature.
Two hours later, the two had roughly cleared away the stones on the road.
For finer sand or soil, there's no way to deal with it; it's not something that can be done in a day or two.
Even if the excavator is small, it will probably have to take a detour.
Wu Youren didn't think much of it; he just considered it a completed task and went back to rest.
When he woke up again, it was already afternoon, and the sky had started to darken again.
Ke Li and Qigeli had just stopped their search, having found nothing further, so they reported the information to the Martial Academy.
Cynthia, who was in charge of observation, saw Wu Youren come out and waved to him, "Come on, try some of the freshly cooked Azure Qiu meat."
In the Martial Academy, this would definitely be considered a blood sacrifice, and because of its delicious taste, it's quite expensive.
But right now, in the wild, you can eat whatever you find.
They still have eight days left on duty, so even if they wanted to transport it back, it wouldn't be very convenient.
Wu Youren, of course, didn't hold back and ate a good seven or eight pounds of Azure Qiu meat in one meal.
He lay comfortably on the hay, too lazy to even move, when just then, a large convoy entered from outside the mountains.
There were more than twenty off-road vehicles, about ten motorcycles, and four tracked armored vehicles.
Ke Li went down to negotiate and confirmed that the team that had arrived was a mixed force.
There were instructors from the Martial Academy and elite troops from the military, who were going to set up a forward camp around Suotu Town.
They even invited Ke Li to join, because the situation was becoming increasingly tense and the team was in dire need of experienced members.
However, Ke Li refused, saying that he had not yet completed his mission at the Martial Academy.
Even the three Knight Apprentice understood perfectly well that this was just an excuse; by following the main group, the instructors would completely lose their autonomy.
If you were inside the Martial Academy and faced with this kind of mission, it would be very difficult to refuse.
But now that I have a mission to complete, it's too easy for me to refuse.
The key issue is that Ke Li's current focus is on the strange creatures; he's just following the main group, so how could he possibly make decisions?
"Every man for himself, or the devil take the hindmost"—isn't that normal?
Not long after that convoy passed, two more motorcycles and three off-road vehicles arrived, one of which had a huge cargo bed.
The convoy immediately identified themselves as being from the military's logistics department, there to verify the supply of certain materials.
Anyone associated with the "military" is someone you shouldn't mess with.
Ke Li simply stated, "You're just passing by; there's no need for you to inform us."
The other party expressed their hope that someone familiar with the area could guide them—preferably an instructor—and promised a generous reward!
Upon hearing this, Ke Li immediately became conflicted. The situation within the Great Liang military was exceptionally complex.
Most Martial Academy instructors, if they want to secure a future career, end up in the military.
However, the military is really incompetent. In recent years, there haven't been any significant wars, so they can only focus their efforts on internal strife.
Unfortunately, the military is riddled with factions, including the nobility faction, the local faction, the imperial faction, the Martial Academy faction, and the capitalist faction...
When the Great Liang expanded outwards, the conflicts between factions could be suppressed—whatever was needed, they could simply seek it from outside.
However, once the external wars ceased, the internal struggles for interests instantly intensified.
Ke Li didn't want to get involved in this mess. How many instructors from Red Pine had been scammed?
But the military's logistics department... that's a lucrative position.
Leaving aside any potentially criminal activities, the fact that cooks don't starve during famine years is enough to illustrate the benefits.
Due to its logistical nature, it has a lower probability of participating in combat and is therefore safer.
If Ke Li can provide some assistance at this moment, at least he will have made some contact with the logistics department.
Whether I'll be able to get into this system in the future is uncertain, but regardless, it's still a favor, isn't it?
After thinking for a moment, he decided to participate in this matter, but not through the Martial Academy's mission system; he would simply contribute his own efforts.
Submitting a task application to Red Pine involves going through procedures, which is time-consuming and laborious. Even if the task is approved, he may not necessarily take it on.
After all, he still has a mission to complete, and it's more likely that someone else will take over this lucrative job.
Even if he manages to receive it himself, this assistance will ultimately be attributed to the Martial Academy, and he won't gain much favor from them.
In the end Ke Li said: I can go with you, just as a favor.
However, he wasn't particularly familiar with Suotu's situation; in the past few days, he had seen far too many injured and dead.
With this psychological trauma, he went to discuss with the young man from Jin: Why don't you come with me?
Are you kidding me? Wu Youren was naturally unwilling; it was not only risky, but it also didn't count as a mission from the Martial Academy!
Any favors he receives go entirely to the instructors; what does it have to do with him?
He craves experience points, but he won't show it too much; in this world, too much of anything is as bad as too little.
He hesitated visibly for a moment before speaking, "Then we'll leave this pass to the two of them?"
Ke Li was speechless. Although the task Red Pine had given him was free, it was still mandatory!
Even if he didn't consider the safety of the two students and didn't suspend the Martial Academy's mission, he would still have to take responsibility if something went wrong.
The main problem is that those two trainees are far less capable than Wu Youren!
But he didn't want to give up the opportunity to improve relations with the military, so he could only sigh softly, "Then Qigeli comes with me."
He needs to take someone with him when he leaves, so that if anything happens, at least someone can help him contact the outside world.
As for his previous suggestion to Cynthia to stay away from the youths of Jin, he couldn't consider it at this moment.
Watching them leave, Wu Youren and the female warrior exchanged bewildered glances.
After more than a minute, Cynthia said, "You should rest for now, I'll keep an eye on things."
As evening approached, she prepared Azure Qiu meat, and the two of them enjoyed another hearty meal.
Wu Youren had rested and decided to take over the first half of the night and call for the other party to take over for the second half.
As night fell, after checking all the mechanisms, he picked up a small shovel and went to the place where the Azure Qiu swarm had appeared.
This place had already been thoroughly searched and extensively excavated by Ke Li and Qigeli during the day.
They only stopped digging when they reached the tunnel the Azure Qiu had emerged from—even if a strange object fell, it couldn't possibly be too far from the scene.
However, Wu Youren sensed that there must be something good inside the passage.
He brandished his shovel and began to dig quietly.
The tunnels that the Azure Qiu burrowed through were simply due to the soft soil, which made it easier for them to pass through; they did not form true tunnels.
During the day, Ke Li dug five or six meters, but found it uninteresting and rather dirty, so he gave up.
But Wu Youren didn't care about any of that. As long as he could improve himself, what did a little sullenness matter?
He had dug less than five meters when he felt his hands go empty; a cavity had appeared inside the mountain!
Whether it was formed naturally or not, a few large rocks and some small rocks have created a space inside the mountain.
Somewhat like a cave dwelling, the space is remarkably stable solely due to the pressure exerted between the stones.
Wu Youren couldn't help but sigh: It was less than five meters away, and Instructor Ke Li missed the target!
"This thing is destined for me!" He sensed it, walked to the largest stone, and took out a piece of the cold light stick, breaking it to make it glow.
There was a round bump on the stone; he touched it with the back of his hand and it felt cold.
However, every cell in his body involuntarily cheered, Weird-Repelling Jue at his waist was burning hot.
This feeling was much stronger than when I first faced that small piece of metal.
This might be because the metal sheet was in Instructor Ke Li's hands at that time, and his perception distance was relatively far, so his feeling was a little worse.
However, he was certain of one thing: the experience points from this thing would definitely not be less than those from that small piece of iron!
What is this? The cold light stick only emits a faint glow, but Wu Youren doesn't want to go back to get a flashlight.
He pulled out a dagger, intending to clear away the stones around the button.
The dagger was of very ordinary quality. He infused it with some of his inner energy, which is what this world calls Battle Qi, to protect the weapon.
Unfortunately, the rocks in front of them were extremely hard, and even after several attempts with the small dagger, not a single chip could be chipped away.
He applied a little force to his hand, but heard a soft clinking sound, and the dagger broke!
This is... a bit frustrating! Wu Youren grimaced and pouted.
But then I thought about it again, and even with the Azure Qiu's incredibly hard scales, it couldn't break through the stone, so this outcome wasn't entirely unexpected.
What should he do then? After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth, took the Weird-Repelling Jue from his waist, grabbed it in his hand, and pressed the round button.
In an instant, the temperature of the Weird-Repelling Jue soared, but thankfully it remained within the range that his palm could withstand.
The moment the jade pendant touched the protrusion, his body stiffened abruptly, and a chill ran from the jade pendant into his palm, spreading throughout his body!
This feeling was extremely contradictory; the Weird-Repelling Jue was hot, probably around 50 or 60 degrees Celsius, but what spread throughout my body was an intense chill!
It's incredibly bizarre.
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