What a bad fate? (Chapter 96)
"The mines?"
Hearing Ye Sheng's words, Mo Lin's excitement dampened a bit, and he couldn't help but frown. The mines were home to an S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast. With his small arms and legs, he would be squashed flat with just one step!
Although the convoy had a esper to lead the way, Mo Lin knew that Ling Lan's chances of winning were slim.
After all, that was an S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast!!!
Not all espers could successfully kill an S-class polluted creature.
There were very few people as remarkably talented as Erensu.
Right now, while Ling Lan could still fight, Mo Lin had to make his escape quickly. Once Ling Lan failed and people started fleeing in all directions, the Thunder Iron Eating Beast would surely go to where the people gathered to eat them!
Therefore, Mo Lin took advantage of the chaos to slip away, specifically heading to less populated areas.
Unexpectedly, he encountered Ye Sheng and the little Thunder Iron Eating Beast, and the two cooperated for a bit. He planned to safely return to the base and exchange the treasures he had for a large amount of base points.
With that in mind, he was not willing to risk his life, let alone take the initiative to go to the mines!
He just wanted to find a secluded corner to hide.
Then he would look for a chance to leave this bamboo forest and see if he could find someone to travel back to the safe zone with!
Thinking of this, Mo Lin quickly shook his head at Ye Sheng, speaking firmly, "Sister Ye, I still want to live a few more years. The mines are too dangerous. I might not come back alive. I'm not going!"
With that, Mo Lin hugged the nylon bag in his arms tightly, looking like he wished he could fly away quickly.
This made Ye Sheng chuckle, and she didn't make things difficult for him. "Alright, you go first. I'll go check it out myself. Transfer the 400,000 base points first."
Actually, Ye Sheng had anticipated that Mo Lin wouldn't agree, so she asked on purpose.
After all, Mo Lin didn't even dare to venture into the duck herd's gathering area, eventually selling the information to her. It was out of the question for him to go face an S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast...
She asked to use an advance to retreat, splitting up with Mo Lin so she could use her invisibility cloak.
Mo Lin was worried about getting stomped to death by an S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast, while Ye Sheng was concerned about encountering other dangers.
So, she needed to be invisible for added safety.
"Sister Ye, do you really have to go?"
"Yes, I just have a feeling that something might happen over there. I have to check it out to be at ease."
Mo Lin asked, not only out of concern for Ye Sheng but also because he regretted the points.
If Ye Sheng were unlucky enough to die, those points would be gone, possibly benefiting someone else... However, weighing the nylon bag in his arms, he figured he wouldn't lose out.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Ye Sheng, Mo Lin didn't waste any more time and directly transferred the 400,000 base points.
Ye Sheng's ID card balance updated, now showing 1.047 million points.
There were still 50,000 points to be transferred to Mo Lin after returning to the base as a fee for following the convoy to mine, leaving her with 997,000 base points.
The amount was almost enough to buy a house outright.
After splitting up with Mo Lin, Ye Sheng held the thin ID card, kissing it repeatedly, feeling elated while hastening towards the mine without slowing down.
When leaving amidst the crowd, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual, but now traveling alone, she realized just how far away the mines actually were...
(?_?)
One can only say that human potential is limitless!
Especially when running for one's life!
As she quickly closed the distance to the mine, Ye Sheng occasionally looked up but did not see the massive figure of the S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast, indicating it had indeed been killed by Ling Lan.
What happened next?
Ye Sheng couldn’t figure it out. Finally arriving near the mine, she immediately activated her invisibility cloak.
Approaching the mine entrance, she was surprised to see a group of familiar black-robed figures.
No wonder!!!
It was the Black Spring Freemasonary again!
She couldn’t believe she had run so far only to encounter them again. What a cursed fate!
(?_?)
By this time, the S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast had already been slain by Ling Lan, its massive body lying like a fallen mountain. Humans standing beside it seemed insignificantly small, but the black-robed figures were extremely excited.
"Captain, this time we got an S-class polluted creature for free, it's so lucky!"
"How on earth does the base train its espers to be this powerful? I thought the esper who killed the S-class polluted creature would be one of the top hundred strongmen, but it turned out to be a relatively unknown esper!"
"Stop babbling. Our Esper experiment subjects aren't bad either, just the attrition rate is a bit high."
Using the invisibility cloak, Ye Sheng crept closer to the black-robed figures.
As she approached, she overheard their conversation. The mention of "attrition rate" nearly made her laugh out loud.
Just a bit high?
There wasn't a single Esper who survived the Black Spring Freemasonary' lab!
Listening to the black-robed figures boast, Ye Sheng quickly scanned the surrounding scene and soon spotted the convoy members.
True to their ruthless style, many of the convoy's ordinary people and Blue Whale Mercenary Corps members were dead.
The bodies were piled up, forming heaps, each victim killed swiftly and cleanly. Their faces were still frozen in expressions of terror, eyes wide open in death.
However, Ye Sheng deliberately took a closer look and found that it wasn't a complete wipeout.
At least, the captain of the Blue Whale Mercenary Corps squad wasn't there, possibly having escaped in time when things went south.
Also, the convoy leaders and Han Weiwei were nowhere to be seen...
Sigh!
Whoever could run, ran.
Ye Sheng continued to survey the surroundings, noticing that the discarded star iron stones were already piled up in bags, likely to be taken away by the Black Spring Freemasonary soon.
The sight made Ye Sheng almost drool.
So many star iron stones = so many points!
Not only base points, but they could also be exchanged for lottery points, practically a gold mine.
And she wouldn't even have to dig them up herself.
Unfortunately, there were quite a few black-robed figures guarding the star iron stones, and Ye Sheng's invisibility cloak couldn't completely mask her presence. Even with advanced stealth powder applied, it wasn't foolproof.
She could only look at the stones longingly.
Reluctantly tearing her gaze away, Ye Sheng soon made a new discovery...
Ling Lan, was lying quietly on a stretcher with her eyes closed. The stretcher was placed on the ground, with several black-robed figures standing nearby, talking incessantly. Curiosity piqued, Ye Sheng sneaked closer to eavesdrop.
"Just in time for Dr. Zheng's quota, we need to find new Esper test subjects quickly. This peculiar Esper certainly fits hid requirements; we can report back smoothly."
"Are we really sending this Esper over? I have a bad feeling about it. Maybe we should kill her again; otherwise, she might become a serious threat later!"
"Haha, why are you so scared? What’s there to fear? Besides, Dr. Zheng's lab is like a dragon's lair; a little Esper can't cause much trouble. Don't worry needlessly."
Good grief!
Escaping death only to be taken away as a test subject...
The Black Spring Freemasonary are truly ruthless capitalists!
Squeezing out the last drop of value.
"Alright, alright, taking this esper is an order from above. It doesn't have much to do with us. Just wait for the command! If she really dies, we’ll be in trouble too... We just stabbed her in the heart, and one energy stone brought her back to life. Esper are truly monsters!"
"Who would disagree? But Dr. Zheng says we'll soon be able to mass-produce Esper. Who knows if it's true!"
"If I had the chance to become a Esper, I'd try even if it meant dying. I've had enough of this damned wasteland apocalypse."
"Give her another energy stone. Don't want her dying from insufficient energy."
Ye Sheng looked sympathetically at the unfortunate Ling Lan.
No one would have imagined that after killing the S-class Thunder Iron Eating Beast, they would face an ambush by the Black Spring Freemasonary.
However, this explained who had been mining the star iron stones all along!
Given the current situation, with the Black Spring Freemasonary having the upper hand, Ye Sheng alone couldn't save Ling Lan. Even using double points for a lottery wouldn't wipe out all the enemies.
Doing so would risk exposing her cheat ability, and Ye Sheng wasn't that foolish!
Nor was she so selflessly sacrificial.
Her cheat ability had to be kept tightly under wraps.
Prosperity enables one to help the world; poverty allows one to preserve one's integrity.
Ye Sheng decided to stay put and wait until she returned to the safe zone to inform the authorities, leaving it up to them to decide whether to rescue or not. Just as Ye Sheng was thinking this, something unexpected happened.
A sudden buzzing noise came from above, and when Ye Sheng looked up, she was shocked.
It was a small helicopter!!!
Since being thrown into this post-apocalyptic wasteland by a truck, this was the first time Ye Sheng had seen an aircraft!
It wasn't because of technological regression.
It was because the wilderness was full of threats from various polluted creatures, including flying ones. Any aircraft could be shot down at any moment.
So, whose helicopter was this? It was incredibly bold!
Weren't they afraid of being attacked by flying polluted creatures like a ball kicked around in the air?
"Damn it, reinforcements from the safe zone base are here! Prepare for battle!"
"How did the base find out? There must be an insider!"
Ye Sheng's curiosity was answered; it turned out the helicopter was sent by the base authorities!
She no longer needed to inform the base officials.
As the black-robed figures of the Black Spring Freemasonary were stunned, the door of the small helicopter suddenly opened. A blurry figure seemed to wave cheerfully downward before leaping out as if committing suicide.
Getting closer, Ye Sheng could see it was a burly man with a yellow afro hairstyle, a creepy smile on his lips, and eyes full of madness.
Wearing a black suit that couldn't hide his bulging muscles, he was plummeting headfirst towards the ground.
Without any landing gear, he would surely shatter into pieces upon impact.
However, when he was still a dozen meters from the ground, he pulled a dagger from his waist and quickly stabbed it into a thick bamboo stem. The frequent 'crack' sounds provided some cushioning.
When he was just a few meters above the ground, he discarded the dagger and jumped down directly.
With a 'thud,' he landed firmly on the ground, standing tall.
Even in the midst of numerous black-robed figures surrounding him, the man's smile remained radiant.
The thick bamboo split in two, falling to either side and crashing into other bamboo, causing a rustling sound as leaves rained down.
The leaves landed on the heads of the black-robed figures, who angrily brushed them away.
"Hello, members of the Black Spring Freemasonary, we meet again,"