Silence returned to the underground space.
Everyone stared at Cao Yiyi with disbelief in their eyes.
Let them run, and then stay behind to hold them off?
Having witnessed many life-or-death situations since arriving in the Erosion Zone, I've seen similar things before, but I never expected to hear it from someone who had just entered the Erosion Zone.
but...
"Are you very strong?" Wang Hu asked, looking at Cao Yiyi.
"Huh? Well, no, rather, I'm actually not very good at fighting!" Cao Yiyi replied, somewhat confused as to why the other party would ask such a question. If she were strong, she wouldn't have said that just now!
"Not very good at fighting?" Wang Hu asked, frowning, his voice carrying a hint of incomprehension.
"Yes, because I've always been by Xingwei's side, I haven't really needed to fight much, so..."
Cao Yiyi paused, not continuing, but everyone already understood.
Because I haven't fought much, I'm not very good at fighting, and what the other party said is indeed true!
However, upon hearing this, Wang Hu frowned even more deeply.
"If that's the case, then how come you were able to carry the Stone-Armored Beast and follow us around? What's your rank?"
The others on the side also looked over with some curiosity.
They also tried to investigate Cao Yiyi's situation, but even Han Ling, who had spent a considerable amount of time mastering Origin Power under Shen Heng's influence, couldn't sense Cao Yiyi's condition, let alone them.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Cao Yiyi spoke up:
"I'm at the Late Fifth Tier, almost at the Sixth Tier!"
After he finished speaking, the underground space fell silent once more.
Zhou Xuan was slightly taken aback, but after hearing the rumble again, he came to his senses and continued to control the space where everyone was descending rapidly.
However, his gaze turned incredulously to the mushroom-haired girl standing to the side.
Late Fifth Tier, almost Sixth Tier?!
Not only him, but the other inspectors beside him also looked at Cao Yiyi with disbelief.
If the opponent were only slightly ahead of them, they wouldn't be like this, but they're at the Late Fifth Tier, almost Sixth Tier...
This is something that will likely take them at least another year or two to accomplish!
This was even after they were fighting against countless Calamity Beast in the Erosion Zone and managing to obtain some resources!
But now...
People just come and go as they please... Well, maybe not.
But now they're being told that someone has arrived outside, almost at Sixth Tier, and not very good at fighting?!
Everyone turned their attention back to the present.
Wang Hu's brows furrowed as well.
Although I know that those above have the authority to allocate resources, this kind of thing...
Seemingly sensing what everyone was thinking, or perhaps having experienced similar situations many times before, Cao Yiyi hurriedly raised her hand and waved.
"It's not what you think!"
"It's not what we thought?"... Han Ling raised her gaze with some doubt; she had indeed thought that way just now.
Cao Yiyi continued:
"My ability is Contract, which allows me to exchange my talent and the daily growth limit of my body. In return, I can ask the other party to give me some of their cultivation progress back. That's why I've reached this level!"
" Contract...?" Zhou Xuan stammered.
Exchanging one's talent for others and then exchanging it back for cultivation progress—what kind of bizarre ability is that?
Most of the people around had the same expression.
"Yes!" Cao Yiyi nodded, confirming seriously.
"So that's why you've been following Director Jiang around, in order to help him cultivate faster?" Han Ling asked, a hint of realization flashing in her eyes.
"Yes, that's right!" Cao Yiyi nodded, then, as if remembering something, added, "However, Lord Xingwei himself is also very powerful. I'm only doing this because headquarters hopes that Lord Xingwei's cultivation progress can be faster, so that we can better deal with any unforeseen situations in the future!"
The others nodded silently.
The slight resentment I had just felt about them risking their lives on the front lines while those back home squandered their resources has finally disappeared.
but...
"I said, can you hurry up? What are we going to do now? If this doesn't work, the Profound Crystal Griffin will really catch up soon!" Zhou Xuan suddenly said quickly, his face turning somewhat grim.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked upwards.
The rumbling sound from above was getting closer and closer!
"Let's go up! I'm not very good at fighting, but I can hold them off for a bit. As for the rest..." Cao Yiyi's voice lowered again, "Whether we survive or not depends on everyone!"
"If your ability were combat-related, that would be one thing, but you can't even fight..." Wang Hu suddenly paused, his gaze fixed on Cao Yiyi, "Your ability is borrowing things, right?"
"Well, strictly speaking, it's not borrowing anything, it's more like Contract. Usually, both parties need to provide something!" Cao Yiyi said, then paused and added, "You could call it a transaction, but it's also a kind of deal!"
Wang Hu ignored Cao Yiyi's other remarks and said, "In that case, could you lend us your abilities?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Yiyi's eyes lit up. She sensed something intuitively and said:
"That's good!"
"Aren't there any flaws?" Han Ling asked Cao Yiyi.
"Hmm... Yes, but my abilities certainly can't reach the level you guys can use on your own. Secondly, I don't really know how to use your abilities. But this is enough. As long as I have a combat ability that allows me to hold out a little longer, that's fine!" Cao Yiyi said happily.
So, are you prepared to sacrifice yourself?... Han Ling looked at Cao Yiyi, then glanced at the few people who were somewhat tempted.
She paused, then looked away and gazed at Cao Yiyi again.
"In that case, could you lend out your rank?"
"Well... we can't lend out the complete rank, but we can lend out a few. What's wrong?" Cao Yiyi looked at Han Ling with some confusion.
"What if we don't borrow rank, but only Origin Power?" Han Ling asked again.
"If we only borrow Origin Power to go out, we should be able to borrow more than 90%, right?" Cao Yiyi replied, looking at Han Ling with a questioning gaze, " Captain Han, what's wrong?"
The people around her also looked at Han Ling with some confusion.
"You're not planning to ask her to lend you her Origin Power and then stall for time, are you? If Shen Heng finds out, do you think he'll agree?" Wang Hu asked Han Ling.
No, that's not what I meant!
Han Ling replied, looking at everyone intently.
"However, I do have another plan that I'd like to show everyone!"