And so, time passed.
Night had fallen over City 003 by the time the disassembly work neared its end.
The special folding bags and backpacks everyone carried were almost completely full.
Each of them bore a load far heavier than usual.
The materials they had obtained from the Beast General-level Monsters they had killed earlier now looked like junk by comparison.
After discussing it, they kept only the most valuable and lightweight portions.
They could only reluctantly abandon the more ordinary or heavier materials in a corner of the supermarket.
"What a waste."
Chen Gu smacked his lips as he looked at the pile of processed Beast General-level materials they were leaving behind.
"Be satisfied, Old Chen."
Wei Tie patted his bulging backpack, unable to hide the excitement on his face.
"With this Iron-Armored Dragon as our haul, those are just spare change!"
"Hurry up. The smell of blood is too strong here. We shouldn't stay long."
Gao Feng checked everything one last time, making sure they hadn't overlooked anything particularly valuable.
"Get everything ready. We're heading out. Luo Feng, hold the egg steady."
Luo Feng nodded, secured the dragon egg again with strips of cloth, and held it in his arms.
As for the longsword, he wiped it clean with a piece of clean beast hide,
then slipped it into a makeshift sheath of tough beast hide and hung it at his waist.
Laden with their haul, the group set out for the Supply Base.
Unlike their cautious approach and tense vigilance on the way in,
the return journey was much more relaxed, though their enormous loads slowed them down.
The joy of their enormous haul washed away the fatigue of the past several days.
Even their footsteps seemed a little lighter.
"Luo Feng, you really amazed everyone in one stroke this time!"
Wei Tie said with feeling as he walked.
"A Horde Leader-level Iron-Armored Dragon! This one has to be worth close to ten billion in total!"
"It was mostly luck. That Iron-Armored Dragon had just given birth, so its strength was diminished."
Luo Feng remained modest.
"Luck is part of strength too,"
Gao Feng said in a deep voice, his gaze sweeping over Luo Feng's black combat suit and the longsword on his back.
"But that new outfit of yours and that sword probably aren't ordinary either. We'll have to get them properly appraised when we return."
Chen Gu was more concerned with their actual earnings.
"Captain, there are so many materials, and most of them are Horde Leader-level."
"Should we sell them directly to the dojo, or find a merchant from the Underground Alliance?"
"I reckon those odds and ends from the Iron-Armored Dragon alone are worth several billion."
"We'll calculate it carefully when we get back."
Gao Feng was smiling too.
"Luo Feng deserves the greatest credit for this haul. We need to give that special consideration when dividing it up."
"No objections here!"
Wei Tie and Wei Qing said in unison.
Chen Gu nodded repeatedly as well.
Having witnessed Luo Feng's true strength and their astonishing haul this time, they were already thoroughly convinced.
They walked and stopped along the way, moving much more slowly than they had on the way in because of the excessive amount of spoils they carried.
They encountered several groups of wandering monsters along the way.
But perhaps the monsters sensed the Horde Leader-level bloody aura clinging to them,
or perhaps it was the formidable air the squad gave off.
Most of those monsters kept their distance, and the few blind enough to run into them
were quickly dealt with by the group, who were in excellent spirits.
Four days later, when the outline of the Supply Base's towering walls appeared,
everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and a sense of pride welled up within them.
The entrance to the Supply Base was as crowded as ever.
When the Fire Hammer Squad appeared, laden with their haul, they immediately drew countless gazes.
"Holy crap! Isn't that the Fire Hammer Squad? What monster's lair did they clean out?"
a sharp-eyed fighter exclaimed.
"Look at the shapes of those backpacks, and what they're carrying-is that scale armor?"
"What kind of monster has scale armor that beautiful?"
Someone narrowed their eyes.
"And that's not all! Look at what that young man's holding. He's being so careful with it-it must be something incredible!"
The crowd broke into discussion.
The Fire Hammer Squad ignored the clamor around them and headed straight for the base entrance.
Soon, news that the Fire Hammer Squad had returned laden with Horde Leader-level materials
spread like the wind through the fighters' gathering area at the Supply Base.
Quite a few fighters had already gathered on both sides of the road to watch.
Now, faced with the envious, surprised, and inquisitive gazes around them,
the members of the Fire Hammer Squad looked straight ahead, their expressions calm.
Before long, they returned to the small temporary two-story house they had rented.
They shut the front door, cutting off the noise outside.
The house immediately fell quiet.
Everyone's face broke into a relieved smile.
Only now did the tension of carrying precious treasures through the wilderness for days truly dissipate.
"Finally, we're back!"
Wei Tie set the heavy pack on his shoulder down on the floor with a thud.
He let out a long breath and rolled his aching shoulders.
"Come on, let's take everything out and get a proper count!"
Chen Gu could hardly wait. He rubbed his hands together,
his eyes shining as he looked at the bulging bundles on the floor,
as though he could already see mountains of Huaxia Currency.
Gao Feng smiled too and looked at Luo Feng.
"Luo Feng, put the dragon egg somewhere safe first. Find a secure spot."
His gaze swept over the others before settling on the pile of bundles.
Luo Feng nodded and carried the dragon egg over,
placing it for the time being in a relatively secluded storage cabinet lined with soft padding.
Just as they had taken most of the materials out of the bundles
and sorted them into piles in the first-floor living room,
the sound of noisy footsteps and deliberately hushed conversation came from outside.
News traveled fast at the Supply Base.
With everyone returning laden with a considerable haul,
it was enough to send keen-sensed merchants of all backgrounds flocking over.
"Is Captain Gao in? I heard the squad had a bountiful haul this time, so I came to pay a visit. My prices are guaranteed to be fair!"
"Brothers of the Fire Hammer Squad, we're from a purchasing office under the HR Alliance."
"We give priority to buying all kinds of monster materials, especially Beast General-level materials. We offer the best terms!"
"Captain Gao Feng, we're from the Thunder Dojo. Could you open the door so we can talk?"
Knocks and voices announcing their owners came one after another.
Among them were quite a few people of considerable standing at the Supply Base.
Gao Feng and Luo Feng exchanged a glance, each seeing understanding in the other's eyes.
What they had expected had come to pass.
"Looks like it won't be easy to keep a low profile and finish counting everything before selling."
Gao Feng smiled and gave Chen Gu a meaningful look.
"Old Chen, open the door and welcome our guests. We won't turn anyone away."
"Right away!" Chen Gu chuckled and stepped forward to open the door.
In a rush, seven or eight neatly dressed, shrewd-looking men and women poured inside,
followed by several people who looked like assistants.
The small living room suddenly felt rather crowded.
The merchants' gazes were like lightning.
They immediately fixed on the pile of materials on the floor that gave off a powerful aura.
In particular, the pitch-black, thick Iron-Armored Dragon scales with their dark red patterns, and the thick, hard bones,
made their breathing quicken.
As for the longsword and black combat suit Luo Feng had set aside,
they also drew quite a few probing looks.