Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 348 - 228: Brought Upon Oneself

Qu Jianlei could understand the situation Youyou described, but he was very curious about one thing.

"After all these years of serving the base, do you really want me to treat your former comrades like this?"

This question was a bit tricky, leaving Youyou momentarily stunned.

But eventually, she faced the question directly, "Do you think they could come into direct contact with the gorge and not know about raising a tiger to threaten themselves?"

Qu Jianlei pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "But that’s just your speculation."

"I didn’t take it as fact either," Youyou responded indifferently, "but once it becomes a fact, it’s already too late... isn’t it?"

This statement was quite cold-blooded, directly assuming guilt first, which would certainly invite criticism from do-gooders on Blue Star.

However, here in the Wasteland, although the Imperial might possess a higher level of civilization, the mindset is that of jungle law.

No matter if you’re guilty or not, I assume you’re guilty first, to better protect myself... and my comrades.

Any softness of heart would only harm our side, so whoever wants to die can go die, my people cannot die!

Of course, Qu Jianlei didn’t care about this, he just wanted to know what kind of attitude Youyou had towards her former colleagues.

Understanding this clearly was really important, as it would influence his various thoughts and directions.

"Shall we go have a look?" Qu Jianlei wasn’t particularly sure, "In two days perhaps, see if the intensity of inspections can drop."

But in fact, two days later, the intensity of inspections hadn’t lightened at all.

On the third day, Youyou suggested, "Don’t wait, let’s take a walk around the liaison office and check the situation."

Acting like this was a bit risky, but neither of them was afraid of trouble. Since they were already here, how could they accomplish anything while fearing this and that?

The two walked out of the safe house, trudging along the road, arm in arm, like a couple.

As they walked, a motorcycle sped past them, kicking up a bit of dust.

"What’s this..." Youyou was caught off guard, almost about to curse.

Qu Jianlei smiled slightly, showing an Identity Token in his hand, "Collected a bit of a toll."

He had become very adept at using wind attribute techniques, and with a bit of minor spiritual interference, it was really too easy.

"Eh? This trick is nice," Youyou’s eyes lit up, "Get one for me too."

As they walked along, Qu Jianlei finally selected a woman whose appearance was eighty percent similar to Youyou, silently taking her Identity Token.

With identification, the rest wasn’t a problem, and the two finally arrived in the urban area at dusk.

When they reached Kai Tuo Road, three hours had already passed, and they strolled leisurely.

The courtyard where the liaison office was located wasn’t very large, about seven or eight thousand square meters.

There were two small buildings and a row of bungalows, an underground garage, and the rest were flower beds and grass.

The three people in the liaison office couldn’t possibly occupy such a large courtyard; many rooms were reserved in case someone from the base came.

The courtyard was brightly lit; Qu Jianlei released a slight spiritual perception and discovered there were eight people in the courtyard.

Three were obviously menial workers, and there were two A-levels, one B-level, and two Modified Warriors.

Qu Jianlei was now quite skilled with spiritual power, and with a bit of caution, he wasn’t really worried about being detected.

However, after perceiving for a while, his expression turned dark, "Truly bastards."

It turned out that while the two A-level warriors were chatting, they mentioned the Storage Talisman.

One of them firmly stated that the Storage Talisman had long been lost, and the one Jian Lei used was most likely that one.

This person probably wanted to pocket the Storage Talisman; such a thought wasn’t strange, but accusing Qu Jianlei of being a thief was a bit too much.

Qu Jianlei and Youyou strolled away, moving to a less crowded area, and he relayed what he had heard.

Youyou’s expression turned a bit peculiar, looking like she wanted to laugh but dared not, "Your two actions have benefitted so many people."

Qu Jianlei’s face was a bit dark, "So now I’m just a cesspool, where any filth can be poured on me?"

"A cesspool for sure," Youyou finally couldn’t hold back, covering her mouth and chuckling, "Xiao Moshan said you’re attracting trouble."

At this time, two security officers happened to come around the corner, casually glancing at the two.

Probably thinking the two looked like a couple flirting and bickering, the officers didn’t check their identities.

After a few more steps, Qu Jianlei, with a dark expression, declared, "No, I can’t swallow this grievance, I can’t bear this guilt name in vain."

Youyou asked about the person’s physical appearance, frowned, and said, "Panpas... Earth Attribute, quite powerful in combat."

"Earth Attribute?" Qu Jianlei frowned, "Originally, I just wanted to snatch one Storage Talisman, but now they’re forcing me to kill?"

Of the Five Major Attributes, the one he dreaded most was Earth Attribute, without exception, because its defense was too strong.

Wood Attribute can counter Earth Attribute, but without a tier-crushing advantage, it can’t quickly subdue the enemy.

And Qu Jianlei’s identity always had to remain hidden; he wanted to have a good, hearty fight, but that wasn’t realistic.

"If it’s him, killing him isn’t too bad," surprisingly, Youyou supported his idea.

The reason was simple, Panpas had a cunning and sinister personality, often bullying the weak, and wasn’t well-liked within the base.

Qu Jianlei described the general characteristics of another A-level, suggesting that there was no need to wait and they could take them both out.

But this time, Youyou was fiercely opposed.

"Guo Dongming, apart from being a bit lecherous, treats others very well. He has mentored many new warriors, we can’t touch him!"

Qu Jianlei sighed helplessly, "So, are we still waiting?"

"Then let’s wait," Youyou insisted, "Some people really shouldn’t be moved arbitrarily."

Qu Jianlei smiled indifferently, but since Youyou rarely insisted, he didn’t want to spoil her mood.

Then the two went to the roadside market. It must be said, the Gorge was truly prosperous; it was almost midnight, yet stores were still open.

The market was large. They wandered from top to bottom without buying anything, purely to pass the time.

They waited until late night when the market was about to close before they left.

Qu Jianlei murmured softly, "This time the surveillance must have captured enough; if tonight doesn’t work, we’ll have to change our appearance."

Youyou, however, stated, "Ninety percent chance he’ll return to the base; he’s very dedicated to warrior training."

But unfortunately, when they passed the small courtyard again, Qu Jianlei was surprised to find: Guo Dongming had gone inside to rest.

Instead, Panpas was sipping a glass of wine, talking with a B-level warrior beside him.

Qu Jianlei didn’t want to draw the other party’s attention, so he slightly perceived the surroundings and then left with Youyou.

Upon learning this, Youyou still stuck to her judgment, "It’s probably inconvenient for him to leave at night, he’ll likely depart early in the morning."

Qu Jianlei had no other choice, but since she was willing to insist this time, he decided to play the good guy to the end.

However, with that decision, they didn’t leave the city but disappeared into a dim alley instead.

If the Gorge’s surveillance were more intelligent, it might have detected this anomaly, but in reality, it did not.

Their hiding place was not far from the small courtyard of the contact point, just over a kilometer away.

Before dawn, a car drove out of the contact point, and Qu Jianlei perceived that Youyou was indeed correct!

A modified warrior drove, slowly taking Guo Dongming away.

Qu Jianlei once again used spiritual perception around them and found almost no one, so he decisively commanded, "Action!"

Youyou wasn’t as adept as Xiao Moshan in battle coordination, so as per their prior arrangement, she headed out of the city first.

The wood element fluctuations slowly dispersed outwards.

Although she was very careful, it was still challenging to fully control her aura while running quickly.

The aura wasn’t obvious, but an A-level warrior carefully perceiving might notice a slight anomaly.

Qu Jianlei moved in the opposite direction, using the concealment of the wind element to quickly flash towards the contact point.

Panpas had gone to bed quite late last night and was sleeping soundly.

When Qu Jianlei’s spiritual attack descended, Panpas’s eyeballs subtly moved under his eyelids as if slightly aware.

This demonstrated that his cultivation level was indeed remarkable, and had he been awake, he might have reacted reflexively.

Qu Jianlei was slightly surprised and a bit relieved.

If not for Youyou’s insistence, attempting to attack while the opponent was awake might have had unpredictable consequences.

Moreover, with Guo Dongming present at the time, even if he could take down both, it would undoubtedly take some time and alert the outside.

Thus, his mindset last night was a bit presumptuous—at the very least, not fully anticipating the enemy. Such errors should be avoided in the future.

With one spiritual attack, Panpas shuddered slightly, and his eyelid tremored even more.

Earth attribute warriors were indeed tough; even after taking such a hit, he hadn’t completely passed out.

Qu Jianlei steeled himself and held back no more, delivering another heavy spiritual attack, at least three times the strength of the previous one.

Panpas’s body gave another slight shake, then fell completely silent.

However, the force of this spiritual attack was so great that even though Qu Jianlei tried to control it, the magnetic fluctuations were slightly noticeable.

The other sleeping B-level warrior furrowed his brows slightly, and his breathing pattern changed.

This one had an electromagnetic attribute and was much more sensitive to magnetic fluctuations than others.

Qu Jianlei’s third spiritual attack fell upon this person.

The B-level warrior’s body shook, and his breathing became even.

Qu Jianlei sighed, shaking his head slightly, "I didn’t intend to bother you, but your perception is too keen."

The electromagnetic attribute cultivation method was lost in Central City, but there were inheritances at the base and the Gorge.

However, this attribute was extremely rare. Youyou mentioned that not many had awakened the electromagnetic attribute even in the base.

Qu Jianlei originally intended to spare this one; following Panpas, he might or might not be aware of the storage talisman’s theft.

Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to harm potential innocents.

But at this point, there was no other choice.