A Gesture of Goodwill, Li Jing's Strength!
Beast Soldier Level monster materials?
Li Jing's expression turned a little odd at the question. Those things fetched little money and wasted backpack space. He treated them as trash and wouldn't spare them a second glance, so why would he have gone out of his way to collect them?
Then again, when he signed his warrior contract, he had displayed only the strength of an Intermediate Warrior.
From anyone else's perspective, wouldn't he have gone to the Wilderness Zone to hunt ordinary Beast Soldier Level monsters?
But who could have known that he had already used the 100 million Huaxia Currency from the contract to draw cards and raise his strength to the War General Level?
He had then used that War General Level strength to hunt over a hundred Beast General Level monsters. He was about to earn more than three billion Huaxia Currency and set the snowball rolling once again.
That was the charm of having a cheat: the outside world's understanding of you was always one step, or even several steps, behind!
If someone who didn't know better thought he had gathered enough information and made a move against Li Jing, he would discover that Li Jing's true strength far exceeded what the information suggested.
With the Card Draw System at his disposal, Li Jing's strength might not improve every single moment, but at least every short while it would take another leap forward.
"Since you're interested, Captain Zhang, please come along!"
The man meant well, so Li Jing couldn't very well refuse. Besides, having Uncle Wu and Zhang Jian present when he sold the materials would give them a chance to see his strength.
If they really intended to ask him to join the Bloodthirsty Squad, they would presumably abandon the idea on their own then.
That would spare them the embarrassment of making the offer outright and having him turn it down.
"Haha, good! Let these old bones of mine put their remaining warmth to use and lend you some support, Li Jing."
Wu Tong also gave a hearty laugh. He was a little curious himself: of the monsters Li Jing had killed, how many would be Advanced Beast Soldier Level monsters?
Based on what he knew of Li Jing's strength, with an Intermediate Warrior's physical abilities and his exquisite saber techniques and movement techniques,
Li Jing should have little trouble dealing with an ordinary Advanced Beast Soldier Level monster one-on-one.
The higher the proportion of Advanced Beast Soldier Level materials among those Li Jing had obtained, the more it would prove how outstanding his practical combat ability was.
Soon, the three passed warrior identity verification and entered the Supply Base.
Just then, the soldier who had stood guard at the gate six days earlier, when Li Jing left the Supply Base for the Wilderness Zone, arrived for a shift change.
He saw that Li Jing, the Beginner Warrior who had gone to the Wilderness Zone alone and whom he had concluded would never return, had not only come back safely but also seemed to have brought back a great haul.
He couldn't help feeling startled, and he was deeply ashamed of his hasty judgment back then-the man hadn't been reckless at all; he had clearly known exactly what he was doing!
And his strength was certainly more than the Beginner Warrior listed in his warrior identification. He was at least an Advanced Warrior; he simply hadn't had his strength recertified.
He really had underestimated him!
Sensing someone's gaze on him, Li Jing turned and saw that it was the Supply Base guard he had met once before. He smiled kindly and nodded in greeting.
Although many soldiers in the Military weren't even warriors, they remained active on the front lines against the monsters and suffered far higher casualty rates than ordinary warriors. Even if their strength fell short, they still deserved respect.
Before becoming a warrior, he too had been an ordinary person living in a Base City, enjoying the peaceful years won by warriors and soldiers fighting with all their might.
That he had been able to live safely as an orphan until his memories awakened, unlock his golden finger, and become a warrior was thanks to the blood they had shed!
Feeling Li Jing's goodwill, the young soldier grew even more ashamed. He hurriedly returned the salute, then turned his head away and quickened his pace.
"Li Jing, what's wrong?"
Wu Tong, walking with him, couldn't help asking when he saw Li Jing turn his head so suddenly.
"Nothing. I saw someone who looked familiar," Li Jing said, shaking his head.
He had already made up his mind, so this time Li Jing headed straight for the HR Alliance's purchasing station.
"Brother Li Jing, you've come to the right place to sell your monster materials. Selling to the HR Alliance won't earn you contribution points like selling within the dojo would.
"But for monster materials of the same quality, they offer the highest price. If all you want is cash, the HR Alliance is just the place to sell.
"I'm acquainted with Yang Lin, the supervisor in charge of purchasing monster materials for the HR Alliance at Warrior Supply Base No. 004. We've dealt with each other quite a few times before.
"With me there, I expect he'll be more straightforward and won't push the price down too much."
Seeing Li Jing head straight for the HR Alliance's purchasing station, Zhang Jian continued his show of goodwill.
Wu Tong nodded in agreement. "The HR Alliance really is a good place to sell monster materials. Back when I was still active in the Wilderness Zone, I sold most of the materials I gathered to them too.
"I don't know this Yang Lin, though. I suppose he was transferred to Warrior Supply Base No. 004 sometime in the past few years. I'll keep quiet later and let Zhang Jian handle the negotiations. That should get a good price for your materials too, Li Jing."
"Thank you for the kind offer, Captain Zhang, but I've also sold monster materials to Manager Yang before. The price he gave me was very fair; he didn't push it down the way you two described," Li Jing said, shaking his head.
Although both men meant well, this was a monster-material transaction worth around two billion Huaxia Currency. Given their rank and standing, they probably wouldn't have much influence over it.
Besides, the price Manager Yang had offered really was fair. He had probably given up quite a bit of his own margin; another place likely wouldn't offer any more.
Presumably, Manager Yang had seen how young he was and how many Beast General Level monster materials he could produce at once, and had deliberately sought to befriend him.
To be honest, in Manager Yang's eyes, he was probably more important than Zhang Jian, the captain of an ordinary War General squad, or Wu Tong, the chief instructor of a satellite city's Limits Dojo.
With the two of them walking alongside him, it was hard to say who was lending whom support.
All three were War General Level warriors, but two were veteran War General Level warriors whose potential had been exhausted, while the other was a young War General Level warrior in his prime, with boundless potential.
It was plain enough which mattered more!
"Haha, I was overthinking it, then!"
After Li Jing tactfully declined, Zhang Jian showed no embarrassment or irritation. His tone and manner remained friendly, though inwardly he was somewhat unconvinced.
A fair price?
Li Jing was still too naive!
Even if Yang Lin was among the more fair-minded buyers, when faced with a mere Warrior Level warrior selling Beast Soldier Level monster materials that weren't worth much to begin with, how could he not drive the price down?
It was only a question of how much.
He was young, after all. Even if he was strong and had the ability and courage to hunt alone in the Wilderness Zone, he was still a little green in situations that called for seasoned experience.
Still, that worked out nicely. Once Yang Lin quoted Li Jing a price, he could step in and get Yang Lin to raise it.
That way, he could build goodwill with Li Jing while demonstrating his own value as a veteran War General Level warrior.
Then his invitation for Li Jing to join the squad would carry a little more weight.
A fine bird chose its tree before it perched. If he didn't show some strength and sincerity, even with Wu Tong, his former captain, making the introduction, it would probably be difficult to recruit Li Jing.
After all, Li Jing was already a genius, and after he ventured into the Wilderness Zone alone, people's assessment of him had risen yet another notch!