She can hide Secretly (Chapter 98)
Ye Sheng's first reaction was that the lottery item had failed!
But when she saw the black energy stone in Ling Lan's hand, she immediately guessed that Ling Lan had indeed been unconscious before. The black-robed members of the Black Spring Freemasonary, worried that she might die from severe injuries, had stuffed a few energy stones to forcibly wake her up.
Given this, even if she had lost her memory of the past month, seeing her now would be pointless... Wait, she's still in stealth mode! Even if Ling Lan, being an esper with keen senses, can't see her!
How could she have forgotten that?
Thinking of this, Ye Sheng immediately perked up. What was there to be afraid of?
Even if Ling Lan saw the crossbow bolt disappear, she might just think it was a hallucination due to her severe injuries!
After all, the technology in this wasteland world hasn't invented invisibility cloaks yet!
Just as Ye Sheng was thinking this, Ling Lan quickly closed her eyes again.
It was as if she had never opened them.
It was evident that her body was still extremely exhausted. Even if she recalled this later, she might think it was just a dream.
Ye Sheng heaved a sigh of relief and dared not stay in place any longer. She had gotten what she wanted, and the danger was gone, so she quickly slipped away!
After that, Ye Sheng deliberately avoided the two rampaging espers and took a detour to leave.
The two espers sent by the base authorities were truly ruthless.
They were almost done killing the black-robed men, and at their feet, the ground was piled with corpses, blood, and shattered flesh.
It was a living hell of terror.
Even from a distance, Ye Sheng felt nauseous and didn't dare to get closer. She turned and left, her steps hurried. After running a distance, she broke into a full sprint.
She didn't stop until she was out of breath.
In her haste to leave, Ye Sheng didn't witness what happened afterward. She didn't know that after the Smiling Man and Valkyria had killed all the black-robed men, the ground was covered with severed heads and dismembered bodies. The thick stench of blood was nauseating.
Valkyria covered her small nose with her hand, didn't comment on her actions, but her blue eyes were full of reproach as she glared at the smiling man, "Xiao, don't chop off heads next time, okay? Do you want to keep them as balls to kick? It's really scary!"
"......"
Hearing Valkyria's complaint, the Smiling Man's smile didn't change.
He just glanced at her, his dim green eyes calm and emotionless.
He ignored Valkyria and first circled around the body of the dead S-class Beast, carefully examining its wounds and cause of death. Then he walked towards the unconscious Ling Lan.
He seemed more interested in Ling Lan.
Seeing this, Valkyria angrily stomped her foot.
The giant scythe in her hand was thrown out, heading straight for the Smiling Man. When he dodged without turning his head, the scythe boomeranged back, cutting down several bamboo stalks before returning to Valkyria's hand.
The surprise attack failed.
Valkyria frowned in frustration, then turned her scythe back into a bracelet.
This was one of the perks for psychic abilities users who signed a confidentiality agreement with the base.
They could obtain exclusive weapons crafted at great expense.
As Valkyria skipped over, the Smiling Man, who had turned silent after the battle, suddenly spoke, "This newcomer is quite impressive."
Hearing this, Valkyria rolled her eyes and snorted coldly.
She did not refute it.
After seeing the corpse of the S-class Thunder Iron Beast, even though Valkyria didn't want to admit it, the fact was that this new Esper, Ling Lan, was indeed impressive.
Even she herself couldn't kill an S-class polluted creature alone back then.
But Ling Lan did it.
Without hearing Valkyria's voice, the Smiling Man didn't feel awkward and quickly added, "She might be the next Erensu."
At the mention of Erensu, Valkyria immediately exploded in anger.
"How dare you compare her to Lady Erensu!"
Valkyria's previous name wasn't this, but as a fantastical fan of Erensu, she gave herself a similar styled name to align with her idol.
'Blood Queen' Valkyria!
Striving to stand by the Goddess of Slaughter one day!
However, while Valkyria worked hard to overcome the common suicidal tendencies of psychic ability users and become stronger, she unexpectedly heard bad news about Erensu!
That very day, she stormed into the Gu family, scaring them like frightened chicks.
In the end, it was only after the Gu family repeatedly assured her that Erensu wasn't dead that they managed to send this mad Esper away.
Thus, Valkyria firmly believed that Erensu wasn't dead; it was all just rumors, "Lady Erensu is merely delayed by something and will definitely return soon!"
The Smiling Man knew Valkyria was deceiving herself but didn't stop talking, continuing, "Once today's news reaches the base, Ling Lan will be immediately transferred there. Given the current need for personnel, as long as she passes even half the tests, the base will allocate resources to heavily train her."
"Tch, the base was so harsh on Lady Erensu before, and now they're regretting it! But out of so many Espers, how many can compare to Lady Erensu?"
Valkyria sneered, and as she spoke, she also figured out the key point.
She proudly raised her chin at the Smiling Man and then laughed, "Even if you say she's the next Lady Erensu, let's see the follow-up! In the entire base, only Lady Erensu didn't have suicidal thoughts; does she?"
The weaknesses of espers had long been exposed.
And they were the kind that could never be corrected.
Many outsiders slandered Lady Erensu as cruel, posing as righteous guardians. But if given the choice... after becoming a espers, they would certainly choose to kill rather than frequently wanting to commit suicide every day.
Ha, that's human nature!
There is no such thing as empathy in this world; if the needle doesn’t prick them, they don’t know how much it hurts.
Hearing the word "suicide," the Smiling Man fell silent.
His dim green eyes radiated a deathly aura.
Valkyria, annoyed, raised her hand and patted his shoulder, "Xiao, stop thinking about suicide. With the psychic emergency potion from the research institute, even if you cut off your head, it will bring you back to life."
Espers were like cockroaches that couldn’t be killed.
In the early stages, it was very easy to die.
But as the energy in their bodies increased, suicide became difficult, not only because of the strict control by the base but also due to the powerful self-repair abilities of espers .
Not being able to die immediately meant they would be revived.
In the past, the research on espers was slow, resulting in a very high suicide rate among them. However, now with the development of emergency potions, it could maintain a faint pulse for at least five hours.
When a esper attempted suicide, it would trigger an alarm implanted in their body.
It would immediately activate a GPS emergency alert.
At that time, the base officials would send someone to follow the GPS and bring the esper back to life.
Unless they encountered a super-powerful enemy who turned them into mincemeat... But as espers' abilities increased, their minds deteriorated, and they only thought about suicide, not being killed by others.
Therefore, when encountering an enemy attack, they would fight fiercely.
They would not lie down and wait for death.
Even if they wanted to die, they could only die by their own hands!
Because of this, powerful espers were hard to kill, and they could only suffer daily torment, living in misery.
"Let Scorpion come down to pick up the person, we will stay here."
After the Smiling Man finished speaking, he took out a button that looked like a car key from his pocket. When he pressed it, the small helicopter hovering overhead quickly descended and then maintained a fixed height.
A long, sturdy rope was thrown down from above. The Smiling Man used it to tie the stretcher under Ling Lan.
The next moment, the rope slowly rose, and once the person and the stretcher were loaded into the helicopter cabin, it quickly ascended and flew towards the safe zone.
Leaving the Smiling Man and Valkyria to clean up the aftermath.
"Alright, now it's time to get to work. Let's capture those who escaped and use them as labor, shall we?"
Valkyria smiled sweetly, unable to resist licking her lips with the tip of her tongue.
...
Ye Sheng ran frantically, feeling an inexplicable urge to stay away from the mine cave.
Were the two Espers sent by the base gone yet?
These two time bombs should leave as soon as possible!
Now, the S-class Thunder Iron Beast was dead, and the black-robed man from the Black Spring Freemasonary who ambushed them was also dead.
The entire bamboo forest was safe.
Next, they would definitely stay and dig a lot, filling her bag number two to the brim!
"Everyone, the polluted creatures have been dealt with. The convoy is calling us back to the mine to work. Let's finish digging as soon as possible and leave!"
Just as Ye Sheng deactivated the remaining five minutes of her invisibility effect and approached the few people who had escaped, someone checked the message from the superintelligent network, and immediately excitedly announced it, making Ye Sheng breathe a sigh of relief.
She thought, the convoy leaders are really not dead!
They still want us to mine!
"Really? Did that espers really killed that S-class polluted creature?"
"Really, look, here are the photos of the dead S-class polluted creature. The Esper is amazing!"
As they exchanged information, seeing the actual corpse of the S-class polluted creature, they exclaimed in awe.
Even Ye Sheng took the opportunity to stand on tiptoe and glance at it, indeed confirming the death of the S-class Thunder Iron Beast.
However, there were no gruesome scenes of the many dead black-robed men, probably to avoid scaring people!
Recalling the hellish scene, Ye Sheng shuddered involuntarily, wondering if the convoy members who returned first would clean up the area.
"So, should we head back now?"
"That works!"
Without the guidance of the convoy leaders, the group wandered through the bamboo forest like headless flies. Without knowing the map coordinates of this area, they were lucky not to get lost, let alone leave the forest.
Moreover, the Iron Beast species typically had a male and a female.
If they ran around aimlessly and attracted another Iron Beast...
Iron Beasts usually only resisted the approach of males after having cubs.
However, S-class polluted creatures rarely reproduced. Perhaps it was because they evolved too quickly and too strongly, leading to a rapid decline in fertility.
Thus, the lower the level of a polluted creature, the stronger its reproductive ability.
In the wilderness, if an S-class creature cub is found, it should be killed immediately, and its organs and other parts can be taken for trade.
These can be exchanged for quite a few valuable items at the base!
Although, in theory, one could attempt to tame them as pets, cubs raised by S-class polluted creatures are inherently wild and, due to their natural inclination to follow the strong, are difficult for "weak" humans to tame.
So, it's better to kill them directly and exchange them for points.
However, there are exceptions.
It's rumored that when Erensu hunted polluted creatures in the wilderness, she often killed S-class polluted creatures, causing the cubs to exhibit fear and submission... As long as Erensu beckoned, she could gain a future S-class potential polluted creature as a pet.
However, Erensu refused to accept the allegiance of S-class polluted creature cubs and instead killed them with a single stroke.
Whenever this rumor is mentioned, countless people at the base feel heartbroken, thinking, why didn't the cubs submit to them?
They would have taken great care of the cubs, treating them like parents!
In Erensu's hands, it was like casting pearls before swine!
As the convoy members received the news from the superintelligent network, they immediately followed the original route back, appearing one after another like ants moving house, making Ye Sheng look repeatedly.
She didn't expect so many people had escaped!
But luckily they did, or they would have been killed either by the S-class polluted creature or by the black-robed men.
"This mining trip was too dangerous. When we get back, I definitely need a good rest."
"Who wouldn't? I also need to get cozy with my wife and kids. Haven't seen them for days, and I miss them so much."
Following the group she had encountered earlier, Ye Sheng overheard this conversation and couldn't help but feel that such statements might jinx them. She quickly shook her head to dispel any bad thoughts.
All the troubles had been resolved.
What danger could still be there?
"Hey, you made it out too?"
"Thank God, we're so lucky to be alive!"
"Guillin, have you seen my wife?"
"Daddy, I want my daddy, boohoo..."
As they got closer to the mine, more people appeared. Amidst the noise and commotion, Ye Sheng blinked in confusion and focused again on the left front.
She spotted Han Weiwei!
The previously well-dressed young lady now looked utterly disheveled, her hair messy and her clothes dirty, as if she had rolled on the ground several times, no longer looking arrogant and overbearing.
Several people standing with Han Weiwei were indeed the convoy leaders. There were also several mercenaries in the uniform of the Blue Whale Mercenary Group, including the squad leader Ye Sheng had been looking for earlier.
It seemed that, no matter the situation, having privileges was always advantageous!
Even during the escape, they didn’t forget to protect... Wait a minute, since the convoy leaders were here and heading towards the mine, who had sent the recall message?
This realization sent a chill down Ye Sheng's spine.
Just as she was about to turn and leave to assess the situation, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder, startling her.
"Ye Sheng, what a coincidence! Let's go together!"
Liu Chenxing's hearty voice immediately put Ye Sheng at ease. She was about to say something but then remembered that with so many people around, it wouldn't be wise to speak freely in case someone reported back to the ability users.
She didn't want to become a thorn in their side.
So, instead of leaving, Ye Sheng continued forward, returning to the mine with the group.
During this time, Liu Chenxing sharp eyes spotted his brother, Muyang, who was with Mo Lin.
This prompted Ye Sheng to look over as well. She noticed that the sack Mo Lin had been carrying earlier was no longer with him, suggesting he had found a secret place to store it, away from prying eyes.
"Brother, brother, brother! I was scared to death!"
Liu Chenxing’s younger brother, Liu Muyang, had also noticed them. The burly man, nearly two meters tall, rushed over with tears in his eyes.
Even though Liu Chenxing was usually easygoing, his expression changed dramatically as he quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the bear hug.
Liu Muyang staggered, nearly falling to his knees, but managed to regain his balance. He turned to his brother with a look of accusation, receiving only a sheepish smile in return.
"Let's talk calmly. I'm getting old and can't handle your hugs anymore."
The brothers, having been separated by the chaotic crowd, had a lot to catch up on.
Meanwhile, Ye Sheng started chatting with Mo Lin.
"Sister Ye, weren’t you..."
"I got lost."
Ye Sheng knew what Mo Lin, looking puzzled, wanted to ask. She smiled awkwardly and quickly explained, not wanting to reveal that she had already been here once.
Taking advantage of the superintelligent network not having a map of the bamboo forest, she made up a story on the spot.
Mo Lin was shocked so he didn’t doubt Ye Sheng's words, though he was surprised to find out she was directionally challenged!
However, the topic soon shifted to something else.
"Sister Ye, I've already stored the organs in a safe place. When we finish mining and head back, I’ll take them with us."
"Just make sure you hide well."
"We don't know how long we can keep mining, Sister Ye. You should try to dig more later. I have a feeling we won't be here for long... After that S-rank Thunder Iron-Eating Beast died, its huge size made it difficult to transport. The base officials will definitely have to be notified to transport it, and when that happens, we won't be able to keep this star iron mine."
Mo Lin sighed silently as he spoke, thinking he could strike it rich mining.
Now, breaking even would be good enough.
However, it was surprising that the Esper, Ling Lan, actually killed the S-rank polluted creature and saved their lives, which was already a great outcome... At least they didn't have to continue hiding and trying to find a way back to the safe zone.
"Why can't we keep the star iron mine?"
Ye Sheng was puzzled after hearing this.
Mo Lin could only explain to her, "The leading people of the convoy bought private information, but star iron is a precious resource. Once discovered, it will be immediately confiscated and become the property of the base. At most, the informants will receive some recognition and a share of the profits."
"..."
After hearing Mo Lin's explanation, Ye Sheng felt a bad premonition come true and broke into a cold sweat!
Given that the base officials sent Espers to deal with the Black Robed people of the Black Spring Freemasonary, this star iron mine was probably already known to the base. It was impossible for them to profit from it anymore.
They might even end up as free labor.
Now, they could only hope that the base officials would be decent enough to let them return to the safe zone.
As one of the few who knew the whole story, Ye Sheng couldn't tell anyone else. She could only keep it to herself, maintaining a calm expression while feeling anguished inside. With a heavy heart, she followed the crowd to the area around the mine.
The gruesome remains Ye Sheng had seen earlier were now mostly cleaned up.
Even the blood-stained ground had been scraped up and disposed of somewhere, leaving only uneven patches of land and some lingering smell of blood.
People with sensitive noses couldn't help but wrinkle their noses, but then they looked at the dead S-rank polluted creature and relaxed.
It turned out to be the blood of the S-rank polluted creature!
However, the newcomers were shocked and excited to see the creature's corpse, their eyes full of excitement. The first group that arrived stood timidly aside, pale-faced, with some still trembling uncontrollably.
They looked somewhere with fear, as if wishing they could grow wings and fly away immediately.
Following their gaze, Ye Sheng saw Smiling Man and Valkyria...
(？_？)
Why are these two Espers still here?
Smiling Man still had a bright smile, but compared to his chatty demeanor during the battle, he was now unusually silent. Next to him, the petite and cute Valkyria hopped over to the convoy leaders.
After some conversation, the convoy leaders nodded, seeming to reach some sort of agreement.
Only Han Weiwei seemed displeased, her eyes and brows betraying her reluctance.
A man who looked similar to her quickly stepped forward, raising a hand to pat her arm. At the same time, he took a few steps forward, shielding Han Weiwei with his body, causing Valkyria to smile mischievously.
However, there was still a mission issued by the base to complete, so there was no time to fuss over it.
Fortunately, these people were smart enough to make a rational choice between staying and leaving.
After all, living means they can still enjoy life; if they die, everything is over.
Abandoning this star iron mine was the wise choice.
If they encountered unreasonable people, she would really want to swing her scythe!
But if she couldn't control herself and killed everyone, it would cause a lot of trouble when they returned to the safe zone.
*Sigh!*
When would she become as powerful as Lady Erensu?
Then, even if she killed everyone, no one would dare to complain.
"Miss Valkyria, we will leave immediately. As for the others, we'll leave them to your arrangements."
The convoy leaders expressed their position, which made Valkyria nod in satisfaction. She then ordered, "Inform everyone about this, and we'll handle the rest."
"Understood."
The convoy leaders quickly agreed to Valkyria's order. They then summoned a dozen people usually used for passing messages. If they hadn't encountered a series of accidents, they would have had more people available. They made do with what they had and sent these people to spread the word.
As for how the rest of the convoy felt upon hearing the news, that wasn't their concern.
Every man for himself in a crisis.
They were just grateful to be able to leave early.
However, since most of the convoy members were related, there wouldn't be too much opposition. As long as there was no vocal dissent, any silent curses would be ignored.
However, apart from those with familial ties, the rest were not so polite.
"Holy crap, the star iron mine's being confiscated by the base officials? Is this a joke? And if they're confiscating it, why are we being left to mine it? We didn't sell ourselves to the base!"
"We have to mine star iron here for three days and get paid 1,000 points per day? Do I look like I need those points? Not even a single piece of star iron, what a joke!"
"Damn it, I'm not doing this slave labor. Forget it, I'm going back."
"Ugh, just my luck. I'm leaving too."
Some people immediately started to protest loudly, unable to contain their anger, and their language turned crude.
The irritable Liu Muyang also wanted to join in, but Mo Lin and Liu Chenxing stopped him. Under the forceful persuasion of his elder brother, Liu Muyang could only mutter resentfully, "What's wrong with you all? They're forcing us to stay and work, and you can tolerate this kind of unfairness?"
Originally, the convoy had agreed upon a reward that included a share of the star iron.
Now, not even a bit was left for them, only 1,000 base points.
That wouldn't even cover the fuel costs for this trip!
Liu Muyang felt like he was about to explode with anger. Even with the Blue Whale Mercenary Group around, he wanted to roll up his sleeves and have a good talk with the convoy leaders.
In contrast to Liu Muyang's anger, Liu Chenxing had a serious expression, as did Mo Lin.
Finally, Mo Lin spoke sternly, warning, "Liu Muyang, if I were you, I'd keep quiet and not be the first to step out."
"?"
"Look over there, the man with the exploding afro in a suit who's always smiling, and the girl in the black and red short skirt next to him. If I'm not mistaken, they're both psychic Espers."
Following Mo Lin's nod, Liu Muyang looked in the indicated direction and immediately sensed something was off.
Seeing Liu Muyang quiet down, Mo Lin sighed in relief and continued with a grim expression, "They should be the headhunter Smiling Man and the Blood Queen Valkyria."
"..."
It was clear that Liu Muyang recognized these names, and after a moment of surprise, he became visibly tense.
His voice even changed pitch as he asked, "Is it really them?"
"Seventy percent sure."
Upon hearing this, Liu Muyang, who had just wanted to confront the leaders, immediately turned into a shrinking quail. His sturdy body hid behind Liu Chenxing, demonstrating an instant switch to cowardice.
The sight made Ye Sheng want to laugh.
At this moment, some troublemakers who didn't recognize the Smiling Man and Valkyria were unwilling to leave and started making a scene in front of the leaders of the convoy. Some even began to use force.
Seeing this, a few members of the Blue Whale Mercenary Group quickly stepped forward to protect the leaders of the convoy.
This time, the remaining members of the Blue Whale Mercenary Group could leave with them. There was no need to continue protecting the others.
As for the remaining people, they could wait for the base to send miners. When the time came, they could return with them.
"Song Ming, you promised so well before. I spent so many points, and now I can't even take a single piece of star iron? I'm telling you, no way, I..."
Before the troublemaker standing at the front could finish his sentence, a head suddenly flew up.
With a bright smile on his face, the Smiling Man flicked the large knife he casually picked up, splattering blood all over the ground. Then, he turned around and looked at the crowd, who seemed to have been silenced. His smile unchanged, he said, "This isn't a negotiation. It's an announcement. If you don't want to comply, then die!"
After finishing his words, the Smiling Man threw the weapon aside and went to the side to rest with his eyes closed.
The adorable Valkyria exclaimed with admiration on her face, almost excitedly shouting out loud...
However, in Ye Sheng's eyes, it reminded her of not long ago when Valkyria sweetly called her "little darling" and then swung her scythe, cutting someone into pieces.
Ugh.
Just thinking about that bloody scene made Ye Sheng feel nauseous.
The troublemaker who had spoken was dead. When the head hit the ground, the body had already bled profusely. The burly body fell like a paper figure, silencing everyone with just one move.
Seeing that there were no objections, the leaders of the convoy immediately bid farewell.
At that moment, Han Weiwei broke free from her uncle's grasp and ran towards Ye Sheng, her dense green curly hair flowing behind her, and her purple eyes filled with joy.
She had spotted Ye Sheng in the crowd long ago.
Recognizing her at a glance in the vast sea of people only confirmed the bond between them!
It was simply fate.
"Ye Sheng, will you come with me?"
Han Weiwei, like a big, bright light bulb, attracted the attention of many people as she ran over.
Han Weiwei, under the gaze of everyone, spoke up without a care, seemingly oblivious to the potential hostility she was drawing. Ye Sheng felt the urge to facepalm, while the nearby Brother Liu and his group looked on with envy.
"Ye Sheng is really something!"
Even without Ling Lan's help, she had Han Weiwei, the young lady.
They also wished they were so beloved...
"No need, you should leave quickly," Ye Sheng replied, treating everyone equally.
Just as she had rejected Ling Lan before, she now rejected Han Weiwei the same way. Her firm attitude left Han Weiwei feeling aggrieved. With the corners of her mouth downturned, she looked at Ye Sheng as if she were a heartless scoundrel.
However, Ye Sheng remained unmoved, and Han Weiwei had to leave, disheartened.
She thought about showing Ye Sheng her wealth and power once they returned to the safe zone base, confident she could win Ye Sheng over!
Meanwhile, her uncle, noticing his troublesome niece, decided that once they returned to the base, he would have his brother lock her up for half a year for proper education, to avoid causing trouble for the family in the future.
Unaware of her uncle's plan, Han Weiwei reluctantly glanced back, waving at Ye Sheng. In the end, her uncle quickened his pace, dragging Han Weiwei away, and they soon disappeared from sight.
Ye Sheng quietly sighed in relief, finally having sent both Ling Lan and Han Weiwei away. Now, she could stay behind to mine.
She thought she could secretly hide...
But before Ye Sheng could fully relax, a sweet and charming voice sounded next to her, "Sister, you smell so nice."
Ye Sheng turned her head stiffly, only to see the adorable Valkyria standing close by, her light blue eyes blinking playfully.