Hearing Third Brother say this, everyone recalled how before every mission departure, the team leader would tirelessly remind them, "Don’t be overly curious or too kind-hearted in the wild. Try not to get involved with anything unrelated to the mission. If you sense danger could arise, make sure to eliminate it in the bud. After a combat situation, we must quickly clear the battlefield and erase any traces we leave behind."

When they first heard these words of caution, they treated them like gospel. But as they spent more time following the team leader, they gradually began to forget these warnings.

It wasn’t until Third Brother mentioned them again that they realized why, after each mission, other teams usually suffered casualties, while their team rarely lost members.

This was all thanks to their team leader’s careful and meticulous attitude. After all, as time went on, they became familiar with members of other teams and learned through conversations that those teams mostly carried combat gear, food, and water on their missions. No other teams were like theirs, taking so many various equipment with them.

After Third Brother’s reminder, the other team members looked at the team leader with renewed admiration.

The leader felt quite pleased with the praise Third Brother showered on him but maintained a calm expression and said to everyone, "Alright, enough with the flattery. I do this to ensure the success of our mission and to guarantee the safety of our team members."

Third Brother, holding the thermal imager, scanned the courtyard again to make sure nothing was hiding. Still not completely reassured, he called a few team members to take long sticks and tap every corner of the yard to ensure there was nothing else before everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Their mission this time was to retrieve an item from a building in the courtyard, specifically something on the sacrificial altar. The mission’s issuer didn’t specify what it was, just that there was only one altar in the room and one item on it. They were told they would see the item as soon as they pushed the door open, not to worry about taking the wrong thing, and to just bring it back directly.

Although they had successfully entered the courtyard, they had already lost two reserve members, despite recruitment of reserves specifically for such tasks.

But in order to complete the mission quickly, he had brought three experienced reserves. It was painful for the leader to think that two had been lost so quickly.

However, since they had nearly reached the mission’s target just by opening the door, there shouldn’t be any further losses.

The leader clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention and then instructed all the team members, "Tie ropes to Zayne and Third Brother, and the rest of you, retreat outside the courtyard."

Once everyone was ready, the leader said to Zayne, "You push the door open and get the item, and Third Brother, keep watch at the doorway." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Hearing that he was assigned to the most dangerous task again, Zayne sighed helplessly. With the two reserve members dead, as long as there were more dangerous tasks before the mission ended, and provided he remained alive, he would have to take the lead.

There was no choice. To become a full-fledged team member, one had to survive three missions, whether barely alive or breezing through. One must go through three missions no matter what.

As for the full members who had skated through three missions, many teams not only didn’t disdain them but actually welcomed them wholeheartedly. After all, at times, luck was much more important than strength.

After tying ropes to the two of them, everyone retreated outside the courtyard once more. Zayne looked at Third Brother beside him and heard him say reassuringly, "We’ve come this far; there’s no room for last-minute jitters now."

Hearing such down-to-earth words, Zayne didn’t hesitate, pushing the door open with both hands forcefully.

When the door of the room was opened, the two at the doorway were extremely vigilant as they checked the room’s interior.

Since Watson, though disheveled, had refused to enter the room to hide, Zayne and Third Brother both felt that there must be something inside the room even more dangerous than the entity outside.

As soon as the door was pushed open, Zayne and Third Brother were prepared to turn and run. But what the two of them hadn’t expected was...

The sight that met their eyes upon opening the door was a perfectly square altar, with only a little incense burner on it.

Besides the altar and incense burner, the room contained neatly stacked boxes under the stairs leading to the inner chamber, and beyond that, there was nothing else in the room.

"Why is there an altar and an incense ash burner without any deities to worship?"

Facing Zayne’s query, Third Brother also cautiously picked up the thermal imager, wanting to check for any invisible creatures in the room like the one outside.

After carefully scanning every corner of the room with the thermal imager, Third Brother shook his head and said to the anxious Zayne, "There’s no heat source in the room, but be careful. When you go in, don’t worry about anything else. Just grab the incense burner and get out fast."

Hearing Third Brother’s warning, Zayne nodded seriously and then cautiously stepped over the threshold with one foot.