Somewhere in the Erosion Zone, Zhou Xuan squatted on the ground with a bitter expression on his face.
Beside him, Zheng Guomin kept muttering to himself, basically telling him to cultivate diligently.
He'd experienced similar situations several times in the past few days, and had been careful not to offend Old Zheng again, but today, Old Zheng had inadvertently brought it up again, and the reason was...
Somewhat hesitant, Zhou Xuan glanced at the small wooden stick in his hand.
Above, several ants are coiled up and facing upwards.
Instinctively, he shook the ants off the stick and was about to put it back on the ground so the ants could crawl back up when a scolding voice came from the side.
"Still playing?!"
Oh no! Zhou Xuan's hand froze, and sure enough, the chanting voice immediately echoed in his ears again.
"How many times have I told you? More sweat in peacetime, less blood in wartime. If you could train for two more hours every day, your future..."
Zheng Guomin looked at Zhou Xuan with disappointment and frustration, muttering to himself.
Zhou Xuan's expression grew increasingly bitter.
"I should have told the captain I was going to another place..." Zhou Xuan thought to himself, but he didn't dare to talk back, after all, Zheng Guomin had been his captain for several years, so he could only silently endure it.
However, Zheng Guomin seemed to be in unusually good spirits today, talking non-stop, while Zhou Xuan's expression grew increasingly bitter. Finally, he raised his hand to interrupt,
"I understand! I understand! Starting tomorrow, can I practice for an extra half hour every day?"
Zheng Guomin stopped, his expression hesitant.
Seeing this, Zhou Xuan quickly said, " Old Zheng, don't go too far! This means I'll be training for ten hours every day, which is already a lot if we don't compare to the captain!"
"That's still two hours less than mine!" Zheng Guomin said.
Zhou Xuan's face Distortion slightly. "But that's already more than the vast majority of people!"
After a moment's hesitation, Zheng Guomin slowly nodded.
Although it didn't achieve my expected goal, it's still pretty good.
Seeing this, Zhou Xuan finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something more, he saw that Zheng Guomin was already looking into the distance.
My gaze followed that direction.
The trees were sparse, but a large river was clearly visible in the distance.
This is their ambush point this time. Actually, when they came here, he suggested that they should ambush by the river, so that missiles or something might be easier to hit!
However, the soldiers in charge of setting up the ambush points said that the Calamity Beast wouldn't have much room to hide when crossing the river.
By setting up an ambush from a distance, they can force the beast horde to make their escape route longer if they want to attack.
Conversely, if they were by the river and couldn't inflict effective damage, they would have to face the charging Calamity Beast head-on!
Obviously, the final result was to do as the other party said.
He didn't have any objections to this, after all, it was just something he mentioned casually!
but...
Gazing at the distant river, Zhou Xuan murmured:
" Old Zheng, it's been so many days, the Calamity Beast isn't going to stop coming, is it?"
"Hmm..." Zheng Guomin hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don't know!"
"What if the Calamity Beast doesn't come?" Zhou Xuan asked, turning his head.
"Then let's go back according to the original plan!"
"Uh... the original plan was for tomorrow, right?"
"Um!"
Zhou Xuan clicked his tongue in exasperation, and just as he was about to say something, an inspector rushed over.
Zheng Guomin's expression shifted slightly as he asked, "The beast tide is here?"
"Yes." The person nodded vigorously.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan's expression brightened slightly.
He turned his gaze to look at the person in front of him.
Kong Xi, whose ability is D-Class farsightedness, was assigned to the Supervision Bureau as a member responsible for reconnaissance this time.
Similar auxiliary capabilities might not have been highly valued in the past, but their importance has skyrocketed since the emergence of Erosion Zone!
The headquarters even specially used Origin Crystal to create a batch of Fourth Tier ones, just to guard against possible situations!
"Location, quantity!" Zheng Guomin asked.
Kong Xi replied, slightly excited.
"Seventy kilometers away, the quantity is approximately..."
"... A rough estimate is over two thousand three hundred!"
Han Ling nodded slightly and asked in a calm voice, "Have you seen the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi?"
"No!" the investigator replied.
"Have you seen any Fifth Tier Calamity Beast?" Han Ling asked.
"The hummingbirds we sent out couldn't identify the Origin Power, but judging from their size and posture, there should only be one Fifth Tier bird. It's uncertain whether it's in the early or middle stage, but it's definitely not above the Middle Fifth Tier!" the scout replied.
"Posture?" Han Ling looked at him with some confusion.
"Uh..." the scout paused, "It's hard to say, you'll see for yourself when the time comes!"
Han Ling nodded and continued, "Do you know what kind of Calamity Beast it is?"
"I know!" the scout exclaimed without hesitation. "It's a One-Horned Tiger!"
Nodding slightly, Han Ling lowered her head and began to ponder.
One or two thousand, plus a One-Horned Tiger rated A in threat level...
Seeing that Han Ling didn't speak, the scout asked with some concern:
"This... Captain Han, can he play?"
Han Ling glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, the One-Horned Tiger isn't a high threat level, and this area is relatively open. If it's focused on running away, I might not be able to do anything about it, but if it tries to come over, killing it shouldn't be a problem!"
Upon hearing this, the scout breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, the faint voice continued to ring out.
"Come with me and speak with the person in charge at the Military Department!"
"In terms of quantity, it's a little too much, but it's not entirely without a chance..."
In the makeshift open-air meeting space, several voices were exchanging information.
Qin Yu stood to the side, not participating in the discussion.
Their gazes, however, fell upon the virtual image projected from the reconnaissance officer's personal terminal in the center of the group.
It was a Calamity Beast with yellow fur all over its body, a slightly white face, and a barbed tail.
Name: Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni
Threat Level: A+
Special Abilities: None/Not yet discovered
Combat characteristics: Primarily close-quarters combat, occasionally employing tail hook attacks.
Performance: A single beast once engaged three inspectors, two of whom A-Class and one B-Class. Both sides eventually left after sustaining some injuries.
Combat suggestion: 3 people can hold off the enemy; if no one is available, do not attempt to kill them.
Qin Yu just stared silently at the image, seemingly listening to what others were saying, yet also seemingly not listening at all.
" Inspector Qin! Inspector Qin?" a shout came from the side.
Qin Yu snapped out of her reverie, turned to look at the figures staring at her, and asked:
"What's wrong?"
The group exchanged glances, and then the leader spoke:
"There are quite a few of these Calamity Beast this time, and the leader is an A+ rated Calamity Beast, so should we abandon the ambush plan and just evacuate?"
The others nodded and looked over.
The number of Calamity Beast was indeed a bit more than expected, but the main concern was probably that I wouldn't be able to handle Calamity Beast... Qin Yu looked at the image again.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
Everyone looked at Qin Yu.
She remained silently gazing at the image; were it not for the occasional flicker in her eyes, one would have thought she was daydreaming.
But why isn't he spacing out, yet he's not replying?
The group looked at each other, then at the person who had just spoken.
The man took a deep breath, and just as he was about to ask a question, he saw Qin Yu turn her head.
She spoke, her voice calm:
"Let's continue with the original plan. Although I might have a hard time killing it, keeping it occupied and preventing it from getting closer shouldn't be a problem..."