The two continued walking forward, chatting as they went.
Just as Zhou Xuan was about to ask a question, Lü Wenrui finally raised his hand and pointed ahead.
"There it is!"
Zhou Xuan looked in the direction Lü Wenrui was pointing.
There stood a huge electronic screen, which seemed to display some kind of ranking.
At the bottom of the screen, several figures were watching.
Before they could even check the screen, their gazes fell upon one of the figures.
" Brother Heng!" Lü Wenrui walked over.
Shen Heng withdrew his gaze, glanced at the two people who had approached, and then nodded slightly.
His gaze then quickly fell on the spear behind Lü Wenrui.
What's wrong with you?
Lü Wenrui explained how he joined the exploration team and how he had found a new way to use his abilities.
"So, how did you discover this technique?" Shen Heng nodded slightly.
"Hehe," Lü Wenrui chuckled sheepishly, "Weren't there some people sparring at the base before? I placed some bets, and after betting a lot, I discovered this!"
"..."
Shen Heng's lips twitched slightly as he instructed:
Even so, you still need to be careful. After all, your abilities are uncontrollable, and there's no guarantee that you'll encounter good things when you go out, so you should still try to be careful!
Lü Wenrui was slightly taken aback. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation since he had figured out how to use the ability. He was still told to be careful.
He grinned and said:
"Yes, I know!"
Turning his gaze away, Shen Heng looked back at the electronic screen in front of him.
On his way back to his dormitory after leaving the command center, he saw this and stopped to take a look.
The two people beside them also looked over.
The screen is displaying the rankings of the various teams.
1. Taowu Squad
Number of kills: Fourth Tier, 8; Tier 3, 27; Tier 2...
2. Flowing Fire Squad
Count of kills: Fourth Tier, 6; Tier 3, 23; Tier 2...
3. The Waking of Insects Squad
Count of kills: Fourth Tier, 5; Tier 3, 32; Tier 2...
4. Howling Wind Squad
Kill count: Fourth Tier, 3...
5. Deep Blue Squad
Kills: Fourth Tier, 3
Under the watchful eyes of the three, the light and shadow on the electronic screen suddenly shifted.
Soon, the Deep Blue Squad killed 5 Fourth Tier Calamity Beast, thus rising to a tie for third place.
"Great, your team is tied for fourth place!" Zhou Xuan nudged Lü Wenrui with his elbow.
"It doesn't concern me that much; I just joined this time!" Lü Wenrui said.
He then looked at Shen Heng and began to explain on his own initiative.
" The Taowu Squad is Wang Hu's squad, the Flowing Fire Squad is Liang Yanhao's squad, Waking of Insects is Gu Lingxuan, and Deep Blue is..."
Does "ranking by the highest tier" mean calculating based on the earnings of other teams during this period?... Shen Heng listened to Lü Wenrui's explanation while looking at the rankings on the screen.
There were only seven teams displayed on the screen, and Lü Wenrui quickly finished introducing them.
Shen Heng glanced at Lü Wenrui, "The rankings shouldn't be fixed, right?"
Lü Wenrui nodded, "It's not fixed, but the first place is basically the team of Wang Hu, Liang Yanhao, and Gu Lingxuan, with Wang Hu getting the most and Gu Lingxuan the fewest."
"Tsk, this title sounds kind of cool!" Zhou Xuan raised his hand and stroked his chin.
"That's right. There are tens of thousands of people in the entire base now. Who doesn't know the names of Wang Hu, Liang Yanhao, and Gu Lingxuan? I heard that some people even went to ask if they could join their team later!" Lü Wenrui said from the side.
Zhou Xuan clicked his tongue but didn't reply.
What, you don't believe me?
"No, I believe you. Why wouldn't I believe you?" Zhou Xuan retorted.
He truly believed this, after all, he had just heard it from the city wall.
"So, even fewer people from other teams know about it?"
"Everyone knows, since there are only a few teams. But in terms of popularity, the top three are the most popular," Lü Wenrui said.
"I wonder what place we would have been if we were here!" Zhou Xuan stroked his chin and nodded.
"With my Brother Heng here, we'll definitely be number one!" Lü Wenrui declared loudly.
"Every team has its own strengths. Just do what you can do, and there's no need to compare yourself to other teams." Shen Heng's gaze swept across the screen, his tone calm.
"That's true, but people always compare themselves to others, right?" Zhou Xuan nodded.
Shen Heng did not reply, and that is indeed the case.
He glanced at the two of them and said:
"You guys chat, I'm going back to clean up first!"
The two nodded.
Back in his dormitory, after a quick rest, Shen Heng emerged from the Erosion Zone once again.
The communication page displayed a series of messages.
Shen Heng glanced at the list briefly, then immediately called his mother to let her know he was safe.
He then clicked into Le Gu Nan's message interface, quickly exited, replied to Wei Leyang and Dahuang respectively, and then clicked into Le Gu Nan's message interface again.
There are two new messages on the screen.
One of them was from a month ago:
Orange Soda: Is the mission complete? [puzzling kitten. jpg]
Another one was from a few days ago:
Orange Soda: Can you give me a call after you finish the task? I have something I'd like to ask you.
I replied and sent it.
Antarctic Bear: Just finished executing [the order] today.
Antarctic Bear: Now, is it convenient?
After a few seconds, a message came back.
Orange Soda: Mmm!
The video call connected quickly.
Before Shen Heng appeared the familiar short-haired girl in a white lab coat.
"That..."
Upon seeing Shen Heng, Le Gu Nan's eyes lit up slightly, his voice tinged with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
Shen Heng's lips curled slightly as he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Um..." Le Gu Nan opened his mouth, but finally asked in a low voice, "How's your mission going?"
Seeing the girl hesitate, Shen Heng chuckled lightly, but didn't reply. Instead, he asked directly:
Is there something you can't ask directly?
Upon hearing this, Le Gu Nan paused for a moment, then, as if making a decision, she looked up at Shen Heng.
"Did you know that once a normal Light Gate stabilizes, the contents inside can be brought out?"
"Yes, I know. What's wrong?" Shen Heng replied. This point had already been confirmed at the very first meeting.
"My father invested in a small team of martial arts practitioners. That team found a Light Gate in the wild, cleared it out, and discovered some special plants inside that contained Origin Power. They seemed to be able to aid in cultivation, but current technology doesn't support them in analyzing the plants. So my father wanted me to help analyze them, but..."
The conversation paused there, and Le Gu Nan hesitated before saying:
I don't know if I should help with this!
Plants that aid in cultivation?... Shen Heng looked at Le Gu Nan with a questioning gaze, "Do you see anything wrong with this?"
"Hmm," Le Gu Nan nodded seriously, "If it were really made, it might affect a lot of people, but..."
She hesitated, as if there was something she didn't want to say.
Looking at the hesitant figure in the projection, Shen Heng pondered for a moment, then chuckled softly:
"Are you worried that your father will develop it and then use its uniqueness to become a heartless capitalist?"