Chen Jixian scoffed coldly, "Using your daughter to threaten me?"

He asked indifferently, "Even if I could help you, do you know how precious the materials needed to forge a powerful professional weapon are?"

Chen Gu quickly took out a bunch of materials, all seized from the Subterranean Shaman last time.

"Is this enough?"

Chen Jixian was at a loss for words. After a long while, he reluctantly said, "It's enough." Then he took all the materials. "It's too late for this mission, but I'll make it for you when I get back."

Chen Gu looked at his retreating figure, a gentle smile like that of an old father unfolding on his face.

After Chen Jixian returned, Boluo was still sitting on the ground resting. Chen Jixian scowled and berated him, "You're the one lagging behind! Still not seizing the time to practice! What are you waiting for? Do you want to make a fool of yourself in front of those long-headed people when we enter Sparta No.11?"

Boluo was baffled by the scolding. Although the Commander had been quiet before, he wasn't usually this irritable. What happened?

But he had no reason to argue and, swallowing his pride, stood up to continue practicing.

...

After two days of travel, they landed at a military base on Sparta No.11. The base was built inside the belly of a mountain. From the outside, it looked like a very active volcano, with thick smoke continuously billowing from its crater. Every so often, there would be a "minor eruption," scaring off the native inhabitants from approaching.

After briefly acclimating to the planet's atmosphere inside the base, the team set out.

"Our target is the city-state of Potsdam, six hundred kilometers away. It has a main city and six fortresses, with about nine hundred thousand people living within its territory. The city-state controls twenty-one mines and is considered mid-sized on this planet."

"The royal family is the Atulu. They are as greedy as any other royal family but, at least, very submissive towards us."

Gong Shuxu introduced Potsdam as they walked. "Within the territory of any city-state, there are a considerable number of wildmen. Every city-state is now trying to capture and recruit these wildmen by all means—they need miners."

"Mining here is highly dangerous. Collapses and flooding are common occurrences. Therefore, despite the royal families' great encouragement of procreation, the population of the city-states continues to dwindle unstoppably. They need these wildmen to replenish their population."

"Potsdam's policy for recruiting wildmen is to provide housing within the city and three months of food, which is quite generous on this planet."

"Our preferred mine is the Redstone Rift Mine, where we have confirmed the presence of a secret shrine formed by the followers of the Great True God."

Six hundred kilometers away, everyone strode briskly, with only Boluo constantly shouting from behind, "Wait for me..."

They had descended on this planet before sunrise, set out from the military base when the sun was at its zenith, and, before sunset, arrived outside one of Potsdam's fortresses.

The gate guards held matchlock guns—weapons supplied by the Confederation. The power of these guns couldn't even penetrate their Bio-Muscle Exoskeletons, yet on this planet, it was advanced and ferocious firepower, the greatest reliance of the royals in suppressing rebellion.

"Who's there?" As the guards' rebukes and queries sounded, Gong Shuxu stepped forward. The power of the Psychological Spy began to unconsciously influence the guards. "We are here in response to the recruitment," Gong Shuxu said.

The guards were immediately overjoyed. In this era, most people could only work in mining, and even these guards, who patrolled the somewhat dangerous city gates, had to be somewhat related to the royal family to get the job.

So their interests were aligned with those of the royal family.

"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome. HEHEHE, put down your guns, these are all our own people." Under the influence of both their interests and the Psychological Spy's suggestions, the squad leader immediately became exceedingly enthusiastic.

After that, everything went smoothly, and they were led into the city. Halfway there, however, Boluo wasn't paying attention and tripped hard while going up some stairs.

The squad leader turned back, puzzled. Gong Shuxu immediately explained with a sympathetic tone, "This child has been weak and sickly since he was young, and he hasn't grown up to be very robust."

Not robust enough? Isn't he likely to die after just a few days in the mines?

The squad leader hesitated, "If that's the case..." He was reluctant to allocate housing and food for nothing.

Gong Shuxu quickly said, "Don't worry, we will help him. He won't hold anyone back."

The squad leader then looked at the others. He worried that if he refused this sickly kid, the rest might not be willing to stay either. "Alright, follow me," he said.

Chen Gu observed the city throughout their journey. It was truly not small, capable of housing at least two hundred thousand people, and many areas were still vacant.

But he saw no clues related to that Great True God along the way.

About half an hour later, they entered a district with dilapidated, low-rise houses. Just after turning a corner, Chen Gu saw a portrait hanging on the wall of a small courtyard with a door that was half rotten.

Though it was just a fleeting glimpse, he recognized it instantly as the Great True God!

Chen Gu frowned involuntarily, then continued to observe covertly without showing any reaction. Afterward, more items related to this faith appeared; Chen Gu even saw a pendant with the image of the deity in the collar of a person squatting by the roadside eating.

The proliferation of this cult on the planet Sparta No.11 was worse than the Bureau of Mystic Security had anticipated. In this slum area, Chen Gu estimated that over forty percent had already become believers.

"Okay, here we are. These houses are for you all, one per person. You can pick your own, but remember, only one per person," the squad leader led them to a group of low-rise shanties, most of which were in shambles—some half-collapsed, others leaky and drafty.

Yet the squad leader acted as if he was bestowing a great favor. "Fix them up a bit, and they'll be livable," he said. "For you wildmen, this shouldn't be difficult. In any case, it's much better than the life you had before."

Gong Shuxu nodded slightly. In the squad leader's mind, however, this translated to: These people are overwhelmed with gratitude towards me, full of thanks. Heh, such fools! They even thank me after I've sold them out.

Then, the squad leader began distributing "food"—three metal tokens per person. "Go to the food distribution point in the city," he announced. "One food token is one person's food for a month. Don't lose them, or you'll have nothing to eat for a month."

"There's also something you must remember: you have to start work tomorrow morning!" While saying this, the squad leader shouted at the top of his voice, "Old Charles!"