Chapter Seventy-Eight: Well Done, My Lord!

Li Hei shook his head repeatedly, "How could that be? I just saw injustice and spoke out, ready to intervene when necessary. I came here intending to stop this conflict, but found myself powerless." As he spoke, a look of sorrow crossed Li Hei's face—such an expression seemed oddly out of place on his burly, rough-hewn features.

"In the apocalypse, survival is already difficult enough, but those three even turned on their own kind. They deserved to die—your actions were justified, sir." Behind him, Little Six and the others stared in shock, watching Li Hei ingratiate himself. Was this really the same boss who would resort to robbery at the slightest disagreement?

Lu Sheng nodded, clearly satisfied with the man before him. "Not bad, not bad. You have a high level of awareness. In times like these, anyone who attacks their own kind deserves death."

Li Hei breathed a sigh of relief. "Sir, since these three degenerates have been dealt with, I'll be leaving now."

"Go ahead," Lu Sheng said, waving his hand dismissively.

Li Hei led the group away at a brisk pace. Lu Sheng suddenly wondered why these men had appeared here in the first place. He glanced at the six fleeing figures, but thought no more of it—perhaps they were just passing through. Judging by how fast they ran, they probably had urgent business elsewhere. To think they wanted to help—there were still good people in the apocalypse.

He began to sort through his spoils.

Storage Cards x3.

One third-tier longsword—not bad, as there are times when a gun is inconvenient and a blade comes in handy.

One second-tier dagger, more or less dispensable, so he set it aside.

There were also several enhancement cards—he had purchased quite a few himself. These, however, were second and third-tier, while his own were first-tier.

White Cloud Horses x3.

These monster cards had been captured by the original owner using blank cards; for others to use them, the entire card had to be soaked in blood. Only by transferring ownership could the cards be activated. Functional cards, however, did not have this restriction.

As for killing the monster and converting it into one's own card, Lu Sheng had never tried this method. If he didn't soak the card in blood and transfer ownership, he couldn't summon the monster inside.

To Lu Sheng, the value of these items combined was still less than the last item.

[Skill Advancement Card]

Quality: White

Function: Advances a skill once.

Restriction: Effective only for monsters of white quality.

If it weren't for the last restriction, the card would be perfect. The previous owner probably hadn't used it because of this limitation. Lu Sheng pondered how best to make use of it.

He carefully examined his own cards and found that the Stone-Throwing Goblin was the most suitable candidate. Close combat wasn't much of a concern at the moment; he had plenty of options there. What he lacked were ranged attack methods. If not for the white-quality restriction, he would have gladly used it on the Twin-Headed Windfire Serpent.

He summoned Greenstone and used the Skill Advancement Card on him. Greenstone's throwing skill successfully advanced.

[Stone-Throwing Goblin]

Quality: White

Tier: Early third tier

Skill: Triple Explosive Throw

Equipment: Infinite Redstone Basket (first-tier equipment)

Evolved Skill: High Temperature

Explosive Throw had been upgraded to Triple Explosive Throw, presumably allowing three consecutive attacks.

"Greenstone, try using Triple Explosive Throw," Lu Sheng said, wanting to see the skill's power.

Greenstone faced three tall trees. Instantly, three high-temperature redstones appeared in his hands, which he hurled at the trees.

The redstones cut swiftly through the air, striking the trees.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each redstone hit a tree precisely, causing violent explosions that blasted through the trunks, toppling the trees and crushing a swath of wild grass.

He returned the Stone-Throwing Goblin to card form; the skill's power was indeed impressive. As long as he could hit the target, it would instantly kill any fragile monster.

He then inspected the storage cards of the fallen men. Aside from some unimportant clothes and food, the only valuable items were source pearls.

He collected 320 second-tier source pearls, 35 third-tier, and 5 fourth-tier. Not a bad haul.

After checking his gains, Lu Sheng set out again.

...

Early in the morning, Lei Yan led his men into the Little Blade Mountain to search for Vitality Grass. For safety, the teams were divided into groups of ten.

After a morning of searching, they managed to find quite a bit.

Zhou Jian had felt uneasy ever since entering the mountain. If that kind of monster was hiding here in large numbers, they would be in grave danger.

He hadn't wanted to come—he thought this should be reported to Lu Sheng and let him decide. But Lei Yan had already pledged himself to Lu Sheng, eager to curry favor, leaving Zhou Jian with no recourse but to obey.

Helpless, Zhou Jian could only stay alert, constantly scanning his surroundings. As for finding Vitality Grass, he left it to fate—if he found it, so be it; if not, his own survival mattered most.

Under his meticulous scrutiny, Zhou Jian always felt something was off in Little Blade Mountain. The towering grass seemed ready to conceal anything. The backs of the trees could hide who knows what.

Was something following him?

Fear swirled in his heart, making him deeply uncomfortable. He tried to suppress these thoughts, but couldn't help himself.

"Captain, there's something up!" a startled cry from his subordinate made Zhou Jian jump.

"What are you making a fuss about?"

"Look over there—a big hole. I think I saw something go in just now."

Zhou Jian snapped to attention, following his subordinate's direction and spotting the hole. The entrance was visible in the light, but the interior was utterly dark, like the maw of an abyss.

On the surface, it was just an ordinary cave—the real issue was what lay within.

"Give me a torch," Zhou Jian said, taking one from his subordinate and lighting it before hurling it into the cave.

The fire illuminated the way, and he watched as several black monsters shrank from the light, retreating deeper into the cave. Zhou Jian's heart leapt into his throat.

Don't... Don't come out!

That was his only thought.

"Run! Quick!" he shouted.

The monsters didn't emerge; instead, the torch drove them deeper underground, much to Zhou Jian's relief.

So it was true... there were monsters in the mountain!

...

Lu Sheng returned to the settlement near dusk, which was no surprise given how leisurely he'd traveled. Along the way, he sorted his cards and pondered how best to combine them with his Strawman Clone.

Various functional cards were already reserved for the clone, just awaiting the Bloodthirsty Mosquito's maturity for an upgrade.

The real challenge lay in how to pair the monster cards.

Before he could consider this further, Lei Yan brought him urgent news: There were monsters inside Little Blade Mountain.

On hearing this, Lu Sheng felt a flicker of anticipation.

Perhaps he could use this opportunity to test the Strawman Clone's combat abilities—a prospect that would serve him well in future expeditions into the wild.