Chapter 13

At around 8:30, Xu Qiao and the other three entered the mountain. They continued to walk and kill beasts until noon, collecting sixteen C-grade crystal cores. They only needed four more to complete their task.

Qin Chi and Meng Li took the lead in the attack, while Sun Fushan protected Xu Qiao and used his earth abilities to assist the two. Despite being a newly formed team, their efficiency was incredibly high after a short period of adjustment, rivaling that of teams who had been working together for over a decade.

“Rest for ten or fifteen minutes?”

The aircraft was scheduled to take off at 4 PM, allowing an hour and a half for the return trip. The team had two and a half hours left to complete their task, but no one could guarantee they’d have the same luck as in the morning, so they needed to control their rest time.

The teammates agreed.

The four of them found a shaded area. While the mutation rate of plants in the danger zone was high, not every plant was mutated.

Sun Fushan sat cross-legged and was about to offer his teammates fresh boxed meals stored in his crystal core space when he saw Meng Li and Xu Qiao each take out a tube of mid-level nutrient solution. Meng Li gulped hers down boldly, while Xu Qiao drank hers gracefully but quickly in three sips. They then immediately put their helmets back on, displaying extreme caution.

Sun Fushan: “…”

He looked at Qin Chi.

Qin Chi had also intended to eat his meticulously prepared boxed meal. However, seeing the two twenty-year-old girls being so efficient and cautious, he decided against it. If the aroma of his meal attracted beasts, it would trouble his teammates.

Reluctantly, Qin Chi opted for a high-level nutrient solution. It wasn’t that he wanted to show off, but mid-level nutrient solutions couldn’t meet his nutritional needs, and he had no stock of them.

Seeing this, Sun Fushan also gave up on his boxed meal.

Meng Li closed her eyes to rest, and Xu Qiao, noticing her two wealthy teammates’ reluctance to open their nutrient solution caps, smiled and said, “You brought boxed meals, right? If you’re worried about the smell, you can eat in the car.”

Sun Fushan blushed and stammered, “No, no problem.”

Qin Chi said, “I prepared four portions. We can have the nutrient solution for lunch and save the boxed meals for dinner?”

Xu Qiao replied, “Sounds good. After a busy day, I won’t feel like cooking at home.”

After finishing their nutrient solutions, Xu Qiao asked, “How are you guys holding up?”

Nutrient solutions replenish physical strength, but it takes longer to recover expended abilities and mental energy.

Meng Li said, “If it’s one-on-one, I can handle five more C-grade beasts. Any more than that, and it would be strenuous.”

Strenuous meant risking injury.

She was a strong C-grade dual-type user of poison and fire. Qin Chi, who had introduced himself as a dual-type user of wind and space at C-grade, could only use his wind abilities in combat. With his experience surpassing Meng Li’s, he said, “I’m about the same, five more.”

Sun Fushan said, “That’s, that’s enough!”

His consumption wasn’t as high; although earth abilities were more suited for defense, their offensive capabilities weren’t bad either.

With such strong teammates, Xu Qiao felt like she was back on missions with Uncle Lu, where there was hardly any need for her as a healer. However, Uncle Lu never treated her like a mere accessory, always sharing various experiences to cultivate her ability to protect herself outside the base.

Nonetheless, Xu Qiao would rather contribute less than see her teammates severely injured.

In the New Era, safety was paramount. If her teammates ever found her useless and left her behind to complete missions on their own, so be it.

After the break, the four of them set out again. Since they only had four targets left to hunt, they didn’t continue deeper into the mountains but instead took a different path leading out.
—-
In late March, the afternoon sun was glaringly bright. The forest was quiet, with even the birds silent.

Suddenly, Meng Li, who was leading, stopped and looked at the knee-high grass on both sides of the path, saying in a low voice, “There’s something there.”

Sun Fushan turned around and shielded Xu Qiao behind him, staring at the grass on the opposite side and said, “There’s something here too.”

Qin Chi immediately concluded, “There are nine of them. We’re surrounded.”

Xu Qiao’s heart raced. Nine beasts were considered a small pack. If they were all C-grade…

With a brief, commanding screech, nine elongated, triangular heads emerged from the grass around them. Their bodies were covered in metallic bronze-yellow scales, with reddish-brown stripes extending from their necks to their tails. Each beast was about two meters long and as thick as a barrel.

Meng Li said coldly, “Stone Dragon Lizards. Judging by their length, they are all C-grade.”

Sun Fushan’s scalp tingled, “There are too many!”

Xu Qiao explained, “Stone Dragon Lizards can lay up to sixteen eggs at a time. Normally, they are solitary creatures. The fact that these are acting as a group suggests there might be a mother lizard controlling them.”

If there was a mother lizard, capable of commanding nine C-grade adult Stone Dragon Lizards, it would definitely be a B-grade or even A-grade beast.

Before they could analyze further, the nine Stone Dragon Lizards attacked.

In the old era, ordinary lizards could move at speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour. These mutated C-grade Stone Dragon Lizards were even more agile. Meng Li’s fireballs and Sun Fushan’s large earth spikes failed to hit any of them. Only Qin Chi’s wide-ranging sandstorm temporarily kept the lizards at bay.

However, Qin Chi’s sandstorm wouldn’t last long. With the lizards’ speed and weight, they would soon realize the sandstorm was harmless and would begin a fierce assault, using their momentum to break through.

Meng Li quickly devised a strategy, “Each person takes three!”

She then unleashed a blazing fire snake, forcing three of the Stone Dragon Lizards into a corner. The fire snake expanded and formed a ring, causing the lizards to adopt a back-to-back defensive posture, fearing the unfamiliar flames.

Meng Li controlled the fire, and a massive fire scorpion spirit entered the ring, taking on the three lizards.

Sun Fushan followed suit. The ground beneath his feet transformed into an earth dragon, rumbling as it herded three Stone Dragon Lizards together before raising four towering earth walls around them. The lizards tried to leap over the walls, but a heavy “ceiling” covered in sharp earth spikes descended, turning the walls into an impenetrable prison.

The remaining three were trapped by Qin Chi’s sandstorm. Once confined, invisible wind blades attempted to cut the lizards inside. Unfortunately, the lizards’ thick, metallic scales and their instinct to protect their vulnerable underbellies meant Qin Chi, like Sun Fushan, could only restrain them without breaking their defenses.

This kind of restraint also requires a continuous supply of abilities and mental strength.

Xu Qiao looked at Meng Li’s fire circle.

The fire scorpion, under Meng Li’s mental command, entered the fray and first spewed a cloud of poison. However, the Stone Dragon Lizards were immune to the poison. The three coordinated to attack the fire scorpion from different directions. One bit its tail to prevent it from using its stinger, while the other two targeted the joints connecting its pincers to its body.

Meng Li couldn’t just watch her spirit animal get bitten. She kept attacking the three Stone Dragon Lizards with fireballs, but she was at a disadvantage fighting three against one and couldn’t win in a short time.

Sun Fushan’s attack and defense were blocked by the earth prison, so Xu Qiao anxiously looked at Qin Chi.

Qin Chi’s wind blades continually attacked the Stone Dragon Lizards’ eyes. When he successfully blinded one in the left eye and drove the wind blade into its body, the other two, after repeatedly failing to break through the small high-density sandstorm, suddenly burrowed into the ground.

Wind blades couldn’t penetrate the ground. Qin Chi signaled Xu Qiao to stand behind him while directing wind blades into Meng Li’s fire circle, catching a Stone Dragon Lizard off guard and stabbing it in the eye.

The fire scorpion seized the opportunity, turned, and clamped its massive left pincer onto the second Stone Dragon Lizard’s head.

Just as Meng Li was about to assist, Xu Qiao warned, “Watch your feet!” The ground beneath Meng Li suddenly shook as a Stone Dragon Lizard, which had fled from Qin Chi’s side, broke through the earth, jaws wide open, aiming for her feet.

A sudden gust of wind swept Meng Li aside, and she threw a fist-sized fireball into the lizard’s gaping mouth, lined with sharp teeth.

With a muffled “bang,” the Stone Dragon Lizard, whose internal organs were defenseless, collapsed to the ground, flailing a few times before going still.

The other underground Stone Dragon Lizard attacked Sun Fushan. Qin Chi, having just attacked the lizards in the fire circle and whisked Meng Li away, was two seconds too late in helping Sun Fushan.

As the Stone Dragon Lizard’s jaws were about to snap Sun Fushan’s feet, a massive turtle spirit appeared beneath him and slammed down.

The lizard’s open mouth was split in two and crushed to the ground, dying instantly.

The turtle spirit, perhaps disliking the disturbance, slowly crawled away. As it moved, its round, black eyes turned to the anxious Xu Qiao. Seeing the pretty girl staring at it, the dark green turtle stretched its neck higher, unable to hide its pride.

Xu Qiao thought, “So turtles can be used this way too!”

But summoning a turtle spirit strong enough to crush a Stone Dragon Lizard drained too much of Sun Fushan’s mental energy. The distant earth prison began to collapse, and the three Stone Dragon Lizards inside immediately broke free.

Qin Chi had already killed two, Meng Li and her spirit animal one each, and the turtle spirit had crushed another. Four remained.

Sun Fushan retracted his spirit animal and attempted the same move again. However, this time the Stone Dragon Lizards anticipated it. The moment the large turtle appeared, the targeted lizard dodged, making it impossible to hit, and even if it did, it might not be fatal.

So they adjusted their strategy: Meng Li and Qin Chi each controlled two. This time, Sun Fushan reinforced the ground in the fire and sandstorm circles, preventing the Stone Dragon Lizards from burrowing.

The Stone Dragon Lizards in the sandstorm circle, aware of the wind blades’ danger, closed their eyes and defended. The two in the fire circle, facing the fire scorpion, couldn’t close their eyes. Qin Chi then used wind blades to assist the fire scorpion, while Meng Li burned the lizards in the sandstorm circle. No matter how tough their scales, they couldn’t withstand high temperatures.

When Qin Chi and the fire scorpion killed another lizard in the fire circle, and the remaining two in the sandstorm circle were screeching from the flames, the ground beneath the four suddenly shook again. The speed was incredible; Xu Qiao and the others barely had time to react before the earth beneath them cracked.

Before they could fully see the creature, a sharp tail, over two meters long, swept through the air. Except for Xu Qiao, who was hugged by Qin Chi and carried away by the wind for over ten meters, Sun Fushan and Meng Li were hit by the residual force from the tail’s strike, impacting their waists and calves. If it weren’t for Qin Chi using his wind abilities to lift them away, being struck directly by the tail could have killed them instantly.

Taking advantage of the mother lizard’s distraction as it went to check on the remaining two C-level Stone Dragon Lizards, Qin Chi summoned the wind to bring the painfully injured Sun Fushan and the stoically enduring Meng Li closer to him.

As soon as they landed, Xu Qiao immediately crouched down to assess their injuries.

Sun Fushan had a fractured vertebra, while Meng Li’s calf was broken with a piece shattered.

Sun Fushan was in so much pain he couldn’t speak and trembled as he pointed at Meng Li, indicating for Xu Qiao to treat her first.

Meng Li stared at the five-meter-long mother lizard and said solemnly, “A-level.”

As a healer, Xu Qiao knew her priority was to save her teammates. She focused on Meng Li’s leg, letting her lotus spirit release eleven petals that drilled into Sun Fushan’s damaged armor and adhered to his waist, speeding up the healing process.

Affected by the fire dragon spirit, Qin Chi’s gaze lingered on the eleven lotus petals on Sun Fushan’s waist for a second before moving back to the A-level mother lizard. “Stone Dragon Lizards go into hibernation from late autumn and are waking up now. Either this nest has been hiding underground, avoiding patrols, or it just came over, attracted by the scent of the mercenaries.”

Suddenly, Sun Fushan handed Qin Chi an energy gun, trembling as he said, “It’s an A.”

The squad leader was so loaded that even Meng Li couldn’t help but glance at Xu Qiao, wondering how her classmate knew such a rich kid.

Xu Qiao didn’t have time to be distracted; Sun Fushan’s bone injury drained a significant amount of his mental energy, and Meng Li’s shattered bones were even worse. She had to control her mental energy to piece together the fragments like a puzzle before using her wood abilities to heal.

When teammates got injured, it required nearly eighty percent of a C-level healer’s abilities for this round.

The two C-level Stone Dragon Lizards needed time to recover and disappeared into the grass.

The A-level mother lizard watched its young disappear to safety and then lunged toward the four-person team.

Qin Chi had excellent marksmanship, hitting the swift mother lizard with three shots in rapid succession.

Unfortunately, an A-level energy gun could break through the defenses of A-level beasts, but it didn’t mean one shot would be enough to kill it.

The mother lizard glanced at the small wounds on its scales, inflicted by the three energy bullets in the same spot. With narrowed red-brown eyes, it chased after Qin Chi, dismissing the three lower-level mercenaries left behind.

It would go after the one with the gun, and when it returned, its young would surely have finished off the others.