Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 621 - 491: Brought It on Themselves

Qu Jianlei's expression grew increasingly strange upon hearing this, "Even if I really have it, would you dare to take it? You truly don't know life from death!"

Camille's face flushed slightly, but she braced herself and responded, "It's just a commission, there's no subjective intent."

Upon hearing this, Qu Jianlei laughed out of anger, "You really live in your own world, as long as you can convince yourself, you'll take on any job!"

"Not exactly," Camille hesitated for a moment, then forced herself to answer, "What if you happened to come across it by chance?"

Qu Jianlei rolled his eyes at her, the gaze he gave was that of looking at an idiot, "It's not easy to reach your level of stupidity!"

"If you're talking about divine scripts or legacies, maybe one can come across them by chance, but artificial intelligence... let me see you find one by chance?"

This logic is actually sound; intelligence is wise, not like divine scripts or legacies, which are dead objects.

To be honest, Xiao Hu was truly developed through Qu Jianlei's hard work; if someone else were to come across Xiao Hu, they probably wouldn't be able to use it properly.

Camille raised both hands and covered her face; she couldn't really take this mockery.

But she had to admit that what the other party said made sense.

So she could only cover her face and respond vaguely, "We just handle commissions and focus on completing them well."

Qu Jianlei looked at her with an odd expression, "If you really obtained artificial intelligence from me, would the Scavengers hand it over to Bida Freight?"

Why do I not believe it?

I don't believe it either, Camille knew clearly that super artificial intelligence is desired by any major faction.

The scavengers in the Hope Star Realm mostly know about the Customs Enforcement Division's artificial intelligence, which many envy.

The scavenger profession is often thought to have strong combat capabilities.

But strictly speaking, it's their capability to solve problems that's truly strong.

Scavengers have keen news intelligence, strong judgment abilities, considerable potential influence, and solving problems doesn't always rely on conflict.

Moreover, artificial intelligence can not only assist in aggregating information but can actively acquire information as well.

Many of the dazzling achievements of the Customs Enforcement Division owe a great deal to that artificial intelligence.

To say that the scavengers have no designs on Xiao Hu, not just Qu Jianlei, even Camille wouldn't believe it.

So she could only answer, "We'll certainly complete the commission, but whether Bida can keep it is not our concern."

Qu Jianlei raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "They might not be able to keep it?"

"Bida is indeed very powerful," Camille admitted this, proud as she was.

But at the same time, she didn't forget to add, "However, there are many factions stronger than them."

"This is so baffling," Qu Jianlei shook his head helplessly, "Who set me up with Desis?"

"Of course it was Bida," Camille answered without hesitation, then asked in surprise, "You didn't know this?"

"Hmph," Qu Jianlei grunted, "Bribing one day, exterminating the next... have you thought about your exit strategy working with Bida?"

He vaguely responded to her question, not expecting that she hadn't figured this out.

Anyway, their questioning and answering fit seamlessly, she answered instinctively, "We work on commission and as long as nothing goes wrong, that's fine."

"Bida is very powerful, but as long as we don't make mistakes, Bida isn't qualified to oppose the entire scavenger system!"

"Heh," Qu Jianlei chuckled upon hearing this, "Bida is very strong, you do admit that... right?"

"Of course," Camille nodded decisively, then paused, feeling that... something seemed off?

Qu Jianlei looked at her and asked leisurely, "Bida dares not openly provoke me; who gave you the courage?"

This question... was quite awkward, but after all, Camille was a standout among the scavengers.

Just now she felt puzzled only because she encountered a rare situation that caused some disorientation, leading to her awkwardness.

Now, the difficult question from Panda was rather easy for her.

She answered seriously, "Bida might not be afraid, but our ability to mitigate risks is strong."

"For them, spending a bit of money to hire a capable helper as a scapegoat is a win-win situation."

"A scapegoat?" Qu Jianlei looked at her with an amused expression but didn't bother with the harsh words.

"We are certainly scapegoats," Camille felt slighted and a little angry.

She was really straightforward, "You know Blitz isn't new, if it weren't for today, when would you have approached us?"

She's truly someone who once wiped out hundreds of people alone, when angry, she's utterly fearless about who the other party is.

"Heh," Qu Jianlei chuckled indifferently again, "Hiding behind a big name is all there is."

If it weren't for the concern of the scavenger group, a mere Blitz wouldn't be a problem for him to take on.

Xiao Hu stated clearly, overtly, there are only four A-levels, even counting the hidden ones and those they could invite, there wouldn't be more than ten A-levels.

Nonetheless, facing four A-levels is enough for him to pull his full attention and deal with them seriously, and they must be handled separately.

The fight among the Extraordinary is like this; underestimating tactically while treating them strategically is courting death.

Anyway, since the opponent is in the open and he is in the dark, as long as he remains calm and persistent, even ten A-levels wouldn't matter.

He even dared to boast that if Blitz had a higher-level team, challenging one or two Supremes might not be out of the question.

"We also have our flag," Camille replied without hesitation, "and you still have reservations."

Qu Jianlei couldn't be bothered to argue with her, merely acknowledging with indifference.

"If you continue to treat Hertman that way, you'll see if I'm concerned."

Although the Guard Captain had advised him not to make enemies with the Scavengers, he had also shown a tone of disgust and anger.

In other words, Hertman felt somewhat helpless but could still unreservedly lash out.

If he could curse, then the possibility of a conflict arising in an emergency was likely, right?

In fact, seeing the unruly stance of the Scavengers, a conflict with the Government was probably not a rare event.

Not only daring to publicly kill the family of customs officials, but occasionally even assisting the Military, could the authorities really remain unaffected?

Of course, this was just Qu Jianlei's speculation, and he couldn't confirm it, but it shouldn't be too far off, right?

However, when Camille heard this, her face paled again, and she finally realized another issue.

No one understood the relationship between the Government and the Scavengers better than her—had conflicts occurred? Certainly!

Even conflicts due to misunderstandings had happened often, not to mention conflicts after the Scavengers drew the ire of the authorities.

However, when such issues arose, both parties would quickly and discreetly coordinate to handle them, avoiding giving the Military any opportunity to provoke tensions.

Since the Blitz team arrived on Star No. 4, they had little regard for the Government, which was both an attitude and a process.

Firstly, they needed to account for the interests of the Star of Hope—we are indeed fighting for our planet's benefits.

Secondly, it was to imply to the Star No. 4 Government that we are collaborators, not your subordinates or henchmen.

This is a process of acclimatization, especially for such a new planetary government, which lacks much experience in this area.

In fact, because planets differ, the scope and extent of cooperation between Scavengers and the Government also vary.

There truly exist different subcultures between planets, amounting to unique regional characteristics.

Therefore, the degree of preliminary acclimatization will largely affect the ways of cooperation in the later stages, introducing new regional characteristics.

Blitz's discourtesy toward Hertman wasn't without reason.

But at this moment, Camille finally realized one point: previously we were discourteous because we were certain the other side was helpless!

Admittedly, Star No. 4 had more than one Supreme, but deploying a Supreme against Blitz was a bit excessive.

As long as the Supremes didn't intervene, Blitz really didn't think much of Hertman—you are just the second on the planet!

If the Guard Captain were from the Supreme's residence, he might get a bit of attention, but Hoyel...not quite qualified.

If Hertman used all his power, it wouldn't be difficult to severely damage Blitz, but wiping them out entirely would be tough.

The key issue is, he can't do that, and the Guard Captain understands this, as does Blitz's side.

However, if there truly was a force willing to help the Guard Captain obliterate Blitz, the Guard Captain might not stop it.

Aunt Liu once warned Qu Jianlei not to be used by Hoyel like a tool.

But Camille never thought that Panda could become Hoyel's weapon.

She had gotten used to Star No. 4's reactions—the emerging planetary government couldn't spare the effort to manage the Scavengers.

The Guard Captain's previous responses also proved her judgment was correct.

But at this moment, she finally realized: Panda could be someone who harms her team!

The Scavengers' information-gathering capabilities were much stronger than those of typical forces.

They had even figured out that Kushnier's death was definitely related to Panda.

Otherwise, why would the Military of Star No. 3 go crazy and apply to the war zone headquarters for a restriction order to limit his departure?

In fact, on the day Kushnier was killed, the fighting was so fierce that many Scavengers on Star No. 4 took notice.

Just that no one dared to approach rashly—two Supremes had already arrived on the scene and were ruthlessly driven away.

Not only was Panda involved with such forces, but worse, he also had a semi-official status.

As long as he was willing, even without relying on the Guard Team, eliminating the Blitz team was a piece of cake.

Previously, Scavengers could bully Hertman for not gathering enough manpower, but now they didn't need to; they could just release Panda.

Even more confounding, such an opponent was invited by Blitz themselves.

Realizing all this, Camille wished she could slap herself, no longer daring to act high and mighty.

She slowly nodded, "Alright, we were inconsiderate. We will give up on this commission."

Forget about professional spirit, when it comes to life and death choices, it's not worth mentioning.

"Just give up?" Qu Jianlei looked at her in surprise, "Do I even owe you a thank you?"