"What, Shen Heng still wants to rely on it to fight the Calamity Beast?"
Wang Hu stood to the side with his arms crossed.
"When..." Zhou Xuan turned his head to look at Wang Hu, paused for a moment, and then said hesitantly, "The captain seems to have said to bring them back to see if it's possible to tame the Calamity Beast native to the Ruins Realm."
He initially intended to say "of course," but upon reflection, he realized the captain hadn't mentioned wanting the Stone-Armored Beast to help in the battle, but...
Zhou Xuan paused his movements and looked at Wang Hu, saying:
"Even so, they should at least help in the battle, right? After all, if we want to subdue other Calamity Beast in the future, we'll definitely want them to help Calamity Beast!"
"Indeed!" Wang Hu nodded heavily. "But even if you manage to subdue it, don't expect the Stone-Armored Beast to be of much help."
"Hmm? Why?" Zhou Xuan asked.
Beside them, Jiang Yue and Yao Guanyu also looked at Wang Hu with the same puzzled expression.
Wang Hu glanced at the unconscious Stone-Armored Beast and said:
" The Stone-Armored Beast's threat level is only B-Class. With that level of threat, we'd need to be at least of the same level to be of any help. But the same level... you should know how many resources we've expended in our cultivation journey. Unless Shen Heng abandons us, where would we find so many resources to raise a Calamity Beast of the same level as ourselves?"
"Well..."
Zhou Xuan opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.
Wang Hu looked at him and continued, "Of course, it's not completely useless. If Shen Heng is willing, raising a lower -First Tier Stone-Armored Beast wouldn't be a problem. However, it can only help with some miscellaneous tasks."
"After all, you've experienced the battle just now. In a battle of this magnitude, let alone First Tier lower, even against the same level, the Stone-Armored Beast's B-Class threat level makes it extremely difficult to offer any help."
Beside them, Jiang Yue and Yao Guanyu nodded silently.
Even with their A-Class abilities, they had little chance of resistance in the battle just now, let alone the Stone-Armored Beast that replaced them, which was even weaker than them.
"Well, being First Tier lower is fine too. You can train a Fourth Tier from Fifth Tier, and a tier Fifth Tier from a Sixth Tier. That should be enough to clear out the mobs, right?" Zhou Xuan grinned.
He withdrew his gaze, picked up a bottle of quick-healing gel, opened it, poured some into his hand, and then applied it to the charred wound on the Stone-Armored Beast's back, saying:
"Besides, battles of that level are rare, aren't they?"
"It's rare, but you'll be staying in the Erosion Zone all the time, you'll eventually encounter them!" Wang Hu said, his eyes darkening slightly. "After all, the Calamity Beast aren't fools!"
"Well, that's true!" Zhou Xuan replied somewhat wistfully.
The thought that this situation might be difficult to avoid in the future gave him a headache.
After all, everyone else except him had been injured to varying degrees!
Thinking of this, he turned his head and glanced in the direction where the Profound Crystal Griffin had just flown away, and said:
"Seriously, that battle was a huge loss! Not only did we use up all the Origin Crystal we collected, but we also got seriously injured!"
"Heh, I don't have any requirements for that. It's good enough if I can stay alive!" Yao Guanyu interjected.
"Indeed, no matter what, we survived in the end!" Jiang Yue echoed from the side.
Wang Hu glanced at the group, then his gaze swept over the surroundings.
"It's not a complete loss. Didn't the Profound Crystal Griffin lose a claw and a wing in the end? Sixth Tier claw and wing should be very valuable materials, at least more valuable than what we just picked up, but combined they're still less valuable than Late Fifth Tier Origin Crystal!"
"But we didn't kill them!" Zhou Xuan said, feeling somewhat aggrieved.
"You're overthinking it. Sixth Tier, Near-S-Class, how could a bunch of us who aren't even at the Middle Fifth Tier possibly kill him?" Wang Hu looked at Zhou Xuan with annoyance.
"Indeed, and we can also go back to the Earth Eye later to collect the remaining Origin Crystal underground. There will be even more Origin Crystal left there than we collected on the surface before!" Jiang Yue said with a smile.
"Hmm? Do we have to go back and pick it up?" Yao Guanyu asked.
"Don't worry, with the injuries the Profound Crystal Griffin sustained, it's unlikely to come back once it leaves. It won't affect your trip back to see your daughter!" Jiang Yue said with a smile.
"No, that's not what I meant..."
As everyone talked and laughed, the heavy atmosphere left over from the recent battle gradually dissipated.
Beside him, Wang Hu glanced at the crowd, then seemed to remember something, his gaze turning to Zhou Xuan, who was applying medicine to the Stone-Armored Beast.
"By the way, Zhou Xuan, that move you just used... it's called 'Profitable Golden Spear, ' right?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yue and Yao Guanyu also looked over.
They were also curious about Zhou Xuan's move just now.
"Yeah, how about that, pretty impressive, right?" Zhou Xuan turned around and smiled at the three of them.
"Yes, it is indeed very strong. Even I am far from being able to match the power of this attack." Wang Hu nodded without any hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan's smile widened even further.
However, before he could laugh for long, Wang Hu suddenly said:
"How about it? Interested in coming to our Chongshan City?"
"Uh, ah?" Zhou Xuan's smile froze for a moment, and he looked at Wang Hu, who was staring at him intently, with some surprise.
"I'm asking you, are you interested in coming to our Chongshan City?" Wang Hu looked at Zhou Xuan and asked again with a serious expression.
At this point, Zhou Xuan finally realized what was happening.
It was supposed to be a trip to Chongshan City, but in reality, it wasn't much different from joining Wang Hu's team!
He subconsciously said:
"Ahem, Captain Wang, that won't be necessary!"
"Hmm? Why?" Wang Hu asked, his brows furrowed slightly.
Why? This... Zhou Xuan paused for a moment before realizing that his action was subconscious, and he hadn't even thought about the reason.
At this point, he couldn't help but start thinking about it seriously.
Hmm, there are quite a few reasons.
For example, he's used to being with the captain; the captain's strength isn't much worse than Wang Hu's; due to his abilities, it's safer to be with the captain; and the captain's actions are more reliable.
Oh, and also, my relationship with the captain is clearly better than my relationship with you!
Zhou Xuan nodded silently in his heart, his gaze lingering on Wang Hu, then suddenly paused.
His pupils dilated slightly.
Suddenly, I remembered that last year, back at the base, Wang Hu had said the same thing to Sister Han —oh, no, to the captain!
Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan's gaze suddenly turned serious as he scrutinized Wang Hu.
Good heavens, Wang Hu seems so honest, but I never expected him to be this kind of person, actually poaching other people's employees all along!
No, we have to deflate his arrogance!
Zhou Xuan thought to himself, his eyes shifting slightly.
Jiang Yue and Yao Guanyu exchanged glances.
They've already realized that Inspector Zhou has no intention of coming; he's probably thinking about how to refuse him now.
Well, that's understandable. After all, being by Captain Shen's side isn't bad, and they've been together for so long, they must be quite familiar with each other by now. Who would...?
Before the train of thought could finish, a voice suddenly rang out at the scene.
"Sorry, I don't want to join the group of people who are too short!"