Chapter 8

Ahead was the Mercenary Association.
—-
In early spring, the Southeast Base was still following wintertime. Every morning at six o’clock, aircraft would take off on time, sending thousands of mercenaries to various task zones. By five in the evening, the aircraft would return to the base on schedule, carrying mercenaries who had either completed or not completed their tasks.

Mercenaries had to report to the association to turn in their tasks, so the evening saw a peak flow of people at the association.

The association operated efficiently, usually completing task verifications by eight o’clock at night. Therefore, most mercenaries were willing to wait in line, preferring to get their tasks sorted out in one day to avoid taking up time the next day. Only those with plenty of free time and little patience for long lines would leave the aircraft and go home, planning to return the next day.

In summary, the Mercenary Association wasn’t very crowded during the day, but it was livelier on weekends.

There was a parking lot outside the base, and Qin Chi slowed down the car. “Shall I stop here?”

Xu Qiao smiled, “I thought you’d just store it in your space.”

After becoming more familiar during the drive and with their impending teammate relationship, they agreed to call each other by their names moving forward.

As he backed up the car, Qin Chi chuckled and replied, “When out and about, it’s best not to be too ostentatious.”

Once they got out of the car, the two walked side by side toward the association’s main hall.

It took them about five minutes, during which Xu Qiao shared her situation: “I’ve only accumulated three contribution points, so I can only try to pick a stronger team among fellow rookies. What about you?”

The four major bases were far apart and were in a state of communication blackout, with only high-ranking officials or top-tier families possessing means for cross-base communication. However, contribution points and scores were universal between bases.

Qin Chi replied, “To be honest, I have twenty-two points, which is just the average level for my age.”

From eighteen to twenty-eight, taking two basic tasks each year and playing it safe, he fit the profile of a typical C-class part-time mercenary perfectly.

Xu Qiao said, “Having successfully completed twenty-two tasks is quite an accomplishment; you must have a lot of experience. Plus, with your space ability, why not look for teammates yourself? You might have more opportunities.”

Qin Chi responded, “The higher the strength of a team, the more requirements and constraints there are for teammates. I prefer to team up with acquaintances I feel comfortable with.”

Xu Qiao could understand this choice.

For example, even if she entered his B-level team because of Zhao Feng, would his B-level teammates treat her equally? Including Zhao Feng, who also had ulterior motives. Conversely, if she joined a rookie team with the weakest members and no experience, her teammates would coddle her and treat her as the most important, but when danger struck, they would all end up as food for the mutant beasts.

The best team combination is one where members have similar strengths, respect and help each other, and get along well.

Xu Qiao took out a notebook from her bag, flipped to the latest two pages, and handed them to him. “This is a list of alternative teams I’ve compiled. Take a look?”

Qin Chi stopped walking and began to read carefully.

The small landlord’s handwriting was neat, with each mercenary team annotated with known teammates’ ability levels, spirit types, contribution points, number of members, ages, and personalities.

Mercenary teams often revealed a lot in their recruitment posts, and Xu Qiao’s recorded data was detailed, with the simplest entries containing just the team’s name and poster data.

After finishing, Qin Chi pointed to the ten or so pages that were closed up ahead and asked, “Is it all similar information?”

Xu Qiao replied, “Yes, I pick a few teams to apply to every month, but unfortunately, I haven’t had any success.”

Either others looked down on her, or she couldn’t accept some personality flaws exhibited by certain team members.

Qin Chi smiled and said, “Then let’s wish ourselves good luck in forming a team today.”

The first floor of the association was spacious and bright, with ample light pouring in through ten-meter-high floor-to-ceiling windows. A huge electronic screen displayed the base tasks available for pickup in recent days.

For over a hundred years, it had been customary for mercenaries to conduct transactions in the open space at the eastern end of the first floor, while the western end was used for team recruitment.

With free space, free utilities, and free security, there was no better place than this.

Xu Qiao led the way, and Qin Chi walked leisurely beside her, as if he were visiting a museum.

Before entering, Qin Chi expressed that he wasn’t accustomed to such occasions and hoped Xu Qiao would handle the conversations with the various mercenary teams, while he would support all of Xu Qiao’s decisions.

Xu Qiao asked, “What if I find a suitable team, but you don’t like one of the members?”

Qin Chi replied, “Since we only collaborate once every six months, as long as the other party doesn’t have fundamental character issues, I can tolerate any personality flaws.”

Xu Qiao retorted, “You said it yourself! If you end up arguing with someone in the future, don’t blame me for your poor judgment.”

Qin Chi smiled, “I trust your judgment in picking people.”

He had just been selected by her from among a dozen prospective landlords. “……”

However, Qin Chi indeed seemed like someone who wouldn’t easily get into disputes with others; politeness seemed ingrained in his very bones.

The open space at the western end was quite large, with eight rows of booths neatly arranged. Each booth was equipped with a one-meter-long table and four chairs.

These were provided by the association, making it convenient for the mercenaries and avoiding the chaos of them setting up booths themselves, which would spoil the hall’s appearance.

Five rows were for combat mercenary recruitment booths, and three rows were for healer recruitment booths.

Combat mercenaries faced danger directly, and their mortality rate remained high. Healers, while protected by team members, had poor self-defense abilities, leading to a low survival rate once they left the base.

Xu Qiao had memorized the names of the teams she intended to apply for. As she walked, she scanned the team names displayed on the electronic screens of the booths. Spotting a potential choice, she led Qin Chi to the back of the line.

They arrived early, with only two competitors in front of them—one was in the middle of an interview.

Xu Qiao looked at the four people sitting at the booth: three men and one woman. Almost the moment she raised her eyes, one of the scarred, muscular male mercenaries looked over at her, his gaze unabashedly roaming over her face before moving to her chest, a suggestive smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

How could such a rogue be identified just from the text in the post?

Xu Qiao immediately turned to leave.

The scarred man abruptly left his seat, stepped out from the booth, and blocked her path. “Hey, don’t go, little sister. Are you a C-level healer?”

Xu Qiao coldly regarded his broad chest, which reeked of sweat. “Yes, you’re blocking my way. Please move aside.”

The scarred man paid no mind to her attitude and smiled, “We’re looking for a healer. I think you and I get along well. You’re just the one we need. Since you’re here for the interview, you should know our team’s strength. We’re definitely the top tier among junior teams, guaranteeing you’ll come back unscathed every time.”

He was overly enthusiastic, but a tall, thin teammate frowned. “Old Wang don’t make decisions on your own. The captain said we need unanimous approval from all four of us to recruit anyone.”

The scarred man immediately looked at the well-mannered bespectacled man sitting in a chair.

The bespectacled man first examined Qin Chi, then turned to Xu Qiao. However, before he could speak, Xu Qiao interjected, “Captain, you should be more aware of the rules in this hall than I am. Are you calling your teammate back, or should I call security over?”

The corner of the bespectacled man’s eye twitched, and he coldly said, “Old Wang, come back.”

The tone brooked no refusal. The scarred man clenched his fists and pointed at Xu Qiao as he left, saying threateningly, “You’re the one who’ll regret this if you want to drink the toast but end up with the penalty wine.”

Quietly following behind Xu Qiao, Qin Chi suddenly pulled out a pair of earplugs from his pocket and offered them to her. “If you don’t want to hear the noise, you can try these.”

Xu Qiao: “……”

Scarred man: “……Say that again!”

Qin Chi calmly looked at him and said, “The difference between humans and mutant beasts lies not only in language and the use of technological tools but also in moral cultivation and cultural inheritance. If you understand my meaning, please correct the beastly side within you. If you don’t understand, then I have nothing more to say.”

The scarred man understood; this guy was insulting him!

He raised his fist high, but the bespectacled man promptly intervened, saying, “Wang Li, do you want to go to jail or what?”

Ignoring the scarred man’s changing expressions, Xu Qiao and Qin Chi nonchalantly walked toward the next recruitment booth.

Unfortunately, Xu Qiao’s interviews were still not going well today.

There were arrogant male mercenaries who dismissed women due to their own strong attacks, sensitive female mercenaries worried that their boyfriends might be charmed away by Xu Qiao, and a “generous” captain who didn’t fancy Xu Qiao but was eager to recruit Qin Chi, thus willing to offer Xu Qiao a chance. Of course, there were also plenty of regular teams that simply disliked Xu Qiao for her lack of experience.

Xu Qiao, an excellent graduate of the Third Military Academy, felt a bit dejected. Was her chosen team’s strength really too high, and did she need to lower her standards?

Her disappointed gaze unintentionally landed on a recruitment booth diagonally opposite, which was unoccupied.

There sat a slightly chubby young man who looked like a recent graduate from a military academy, just like her.

Their eyes met, and the young man’s face flushed bright red. He looked down, pretending to tidy up a desk that only had two sheets of paper on it.

Xu Qiao had never encountered a male ability user who was so easily embarrassed. Out of curiosity, she walked over to his booth and pressed down on the paper he was about to take away.

One was a blank form, and the other was a team introduction.

The mercenary team, named “Silence is Golden,” currently had only one captain, who was the slightly chubby young man.

Sun Fushan, a C-level earth ability user, Spirit Beast: Turtle, skilled in defense, graduated from the Second Military Academy.

Notes: Stutters, communication is not very convenient.

A turtle as a Spirit Beast was not uncommon. Xu Qiao was surprised, “You graduated from the Second Military Academy?”

Sun Fushan nodded, blushing.

Xu Qiao looked at Teacher Qin from the Second Military Academy beside her. Even B-level ability users from ordinary backgrounds found it hard to get into the Second Military Academy, and here was someone who was only a C-level. How could that be?

But she quickly hid her curiosity and asked about the recruitment, “You’re only looking for one healer. Are you really going to take on missions outside?”

Sun Fushan took out another booth number tag, his head lowered as he said, “First recruit a… healer, then… then recruit others.”

Xu Qiao felt a bit sorry for him. If she turned to leave after he had stuttered through so many words…

Qin Chi spoke up, “I can attack, he can defend, you can heal, and then we can recruit another combat type. That should work.”

With attack, defense, and healing, it was quite a balanced team.

Xu Qiao was also tired of the endless interview process. Qin Chi had proven his strength with twenty-two contribution points. Xu Qiao focused on Sun Fushan, asking, “How many contribution points do you have?”

Sun Fushan held up three fingers and then pulled out a certificate from his pocket, proving that he was an outstanding C-level graduate from the Second Military Academy, in the same class as Xu Qiao.

If it weren’t for Xu Qiao’s inexplicably increased number of petals in her lotus flower, their resumes would be evenly matched, and Sun Fushan’s Second Academy education would even be a step above hers.

Of course, it would be much easier for Xu Qiao to join a team as a healer than for Sun Fushan to form his own team.

Xu Qiao introduced her situation with Qin Chi and asked, “Can we join your team?”

Sun Fushan, excited and overwhelmed after several failed recruitment attempts, stood up. “Yes, that’s great!”

With the team successfully formed, Xu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief. “Shall we go find the last teammate together?”

Sun Fushan nodded happily, quickly packing up his things. After scanning to end the use of this recruitment booth, he led the way to the combat recruitment area.
—-
It was ten o’clock, and the place was packed with people, with almost no vacant booths. Sun Fushan looked around and, as he spotted a recently vacated booth, hurried over. Xu Qiao suddenly noticed a tall figure she had seen just yesterday—Meng Li, dressed in a black combat uniform and looking cold, was purposefully stopping in front of a mercenary team’s booth.

Not far away, Xu Qiao couldn’t help but listen in.

“Meng Li? You’re back?”

“Yes, I hunted a total of eight C-level beasts. You need to give me five crystal cores to submit my mission, and the rest can be kept.”

“Ah, but we thought you… we only hunted ten C-level beasts that day. Yesterday, the captain and Xiao Tian submitted the mission first. We still need to recruit… no, since you’re back, we don’t need to find a new teammate. Let’s complete the mission for the three of us tomorrow.”

“No, you can abandon me once, and you can abandon me a second time. Before the end of the month, give me back five crystal cores, and we’ll call it even for that day.”

The four teammates fell silent in unison.

After stating his conditions, Meng Li turned to leave.

Seeing this, Xu Qiao exchanged a glance with Qin Chi and smiled as she went after Meng Li.

Hearing the footsteps approaching, Meng Li thought it had nothing to do with her until Xu Qiao blocked her path, at which point she was taken by surprise and stopped.

“About what happened yesterday…”

Xu Qiao smiled and said, “That’s all in the past. Our team is still short one member; I wonder if you’d be interested?”