Vol 15 Chapter 1-2
Xuan nodded. “Unfortunately, we forgot about something. The second person you captured was a psyche force user so we weren’t able to isolate their communication. I wasn’t aware of it at the time. It wasn’t until after everything that I understood why they acted so differently.”
Zheng asked curiously. “You mean that one of they are so scared of dying while the other wasn’t?”
“Yes.” Xuan said. “You have also used the revival cross so you know it needs to be kept on the user to have an effect. If we found out that they have revival crosses, we just have to knock out the psyche force user then scan their whole body. I suspect they inserted the crosses into their bodies, maybe with surgery, or swallowed, or in the anus.”
The other three people didn’t look good. Zheng said. “You mean that man deceived me since the beginning? He said he didn’t get the revival cross to avoid me searching him. Then he realized that may sound strange so he acted like he wasn’t scared of dying while having his partner act the opposite. He even revealed he had a storage belt which could only be carried on the outside. That diverted our attention to items on the outside of his body. The other person acting scared of death to reflect the idea that they didn’t have the revival crosses. Is this the case?”
Xuan remained calm. “Yes. That’s why he suddenly calmed down after Zero scooped his eyes out. If he was really not scared of dying and torture, he would have continued shouting. Know why the psyche force user warned you of the brain bug all of a sudden? That was because he was trying to save his teammate. If his teammate died too early, we might scan his body. If that happened, he was going to die for real. Remember what ability the psyche force user used in the beginning?”
“Masking.” Zheng entered the third stage and simulated Honglu. The thoughts became clearer to him.
Xuan confirmed. “Correct. His masking was different from ours. It didn’t give us the feeling that something was masked. That was how he protected his teammate. Even though partnerships in this kind of teams are weird to me but the fact was they were cooperating with each other. Perhaps he needed a fighter to help him in movies or continue enslaving the newbies. We might meet team South America again.”
Zheng gripped his hand tightly. “Then let that day come soon. Otherwise, if they get another revival cross, they might escape again.”
Xuan wasn’t the least bit interested in them. “It’s not worth worrying. We will continue growing stronger. Don’t fix your eyes to the pebbles on the ground. You should look out to the trees far away. Those are the goals you need to go for. When our team reach a certain height, they won’t be able to escape even with revival crosses. The power of psyche force users will grow exponentially with better abilities. I think Lan can get one or two good ability this time from killing an unlocked person.”
Zheng finally looked a bit better but he still said with hatred. “F*ck. That was not worth it. If we knew they had revival crosses, we would have earned so much. Two crosses for members that are important but not strong in combat will give us more choices during team battles and bonus missions.”
Xuan waved his hand. “There are always events out of our expectations. I didn’t consider enough due to the situation back then. The fact is I should have noticed the disparity between them once the fighter became quiet after he lost his eyes. That was my mistake. Let’s discuss the other details of the fight. First thing is, you received a rank B reward for the brain bug.”
Zheng nodded. “Yes. It’s strange. If that was a bonus mission, shouldn’t we obtain points too? A rank B reward for the whole team would probably yield at least 5000 points too. Zero, what did you get?”
Zero shrugged. “Two rank B rewards and no points.”
Xuan picked out a piece of paper from the files in his hand. “Then it’s clear. There are no bonus missions in Starship Troopers. In contrast, we get different rewards depending on what we kill. My initial conjecture was destroying starships should be a bonus mission. However, we only obtained points for the team. Killing the brain bug confirms it that there are no bonus missions and only rewards.”
Zheng took the paper. It noted the points and rewards from each type of bugs. He said. “That seems like the case.”
He suddenly remembered something and brought out the silver bow, invisible sword, two broken defensive items and some exoskeletons from his ring and dimensional bag. One of the exoskeleton was intact.
Zheng said excitedly. “Even though we didn’t rob them naked but we got some good stuff. These two weapons.” He held up the bow and sword. He put the sword up front so they could notice it.
“Too bad the weapons formed a pact with those two people. Not sure if we can still use them. They are at least rank BB or even higher. There are also two rank BB defensive items. I destroyed them but there’s a possibility of repairing so I brought them back. Oh, and the exoskeleton from the bodyguard bugs are extremely tough. I also brought some back. Xuan, see if we can use any of them.”
Xuan ignored the magical items and took over an exoskeleton. “I only have ten days every time we come back to this dimension. Unless we head into the movies to carry out the research, I don’t have the time to do everything. In comparison, analyzing the components of these exoskeleton is more important. I hope to make an armor with them. The dragonshard will be able to defend against sci-fi weapons and the exoskeleton armor can defend against most magical attacks, like your light blade.”
Zheng put the weapons and defensive items back then turned to Zero and WangXia. “How many points and rewards did you get?”
Zero said. “7000 points and two rank B rewards.”
WangXia smiled. “I got quite a bit more points though still not as much as you. 10000 points, one of each rank C and B reward.”
Zheng still couldn’t accept the fact and murmured. “Each of us obtained different amount of points from killing bugs. Kampa and I probably got the most. But we lost 5000 points from defending the bases. We lost too much on this part.”
Xuan looked up from his files. “That’s good enough. Too many points and rewards can be a burden, just like team South America. Their combat techniques and awareness were extremely poor. They rely on high tier magical weapons and abilities to fight. However, once they meet someone with strong techniques and awareness, or even self-created ability, their weakness will be exposed. So instead of seeking endless rewards and points, we are better making the best use of what we have. Otherwise, the points and rewards will only hold back the strength of the team. Zheng, what are you going to exchange aside from reviving team members?”
“I need a sword technique that can utilize the power of Tiger’s Soul.”