Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 385 - 263: Courting Death

Qu Jianlei detected the resentment in Sullivan’s tone but didn’t argue, merely asking again, "Not going back?"

"Not going back," the Woodworker realized the other was suggesting that if he could endure the interrogation, he might have to return to normal life.

But he had enough of such a life, "I’m going to join the Pioneer Team!"

"Alright then," Qu Jianlei replied casually, "Wait for me for a moment!"

He hadn’t initially decided whether to start a killing spree, but since Sullivan had decided to expose them, it was time to take down this Star Thief base.

This base only had two C-level Warriors, around a dozen Modified Warriors, the rest were ordinary people.

Don’t underestimate such a configuration; with the fortified bastion and strong firepower, even a B-level Warrior might not take it easily.

A small delay could see the Star Thieves’ reinforcements arrive, and even if a B-level succeeded, there wouldn’t be time to transport supplies.

If the reinforcements were strong enough, they could pursue closely, and in such a case, the attacker might not retreat safely.

But for Qu Jianlei, this level of power wasn’t impressive; a Spiritual Attack knocked everyone out instantly.

He hesitated slightly... Should he also kill the Settlement’s residents?

Among these residents, many favored the Star Thieves, even last night among those who captured Sullivan, two were residents.

In the end, he restrained his killing intent: he couldn’t kill all the residents, could he?

Therefore, he decided to adhere to the Pioneer Team’s covenant—not easily attacking Indigenous People.

He tossed all the unconscious people into an empty room, then carried Sullivan over four kilometers.

After hiding the Woodworker, he went back to empty out all the storage rooms.

Unfortunately, the supplies in the storage room were really not much, he emptied it all in just five trips with his Storage Ring.

Weapons, ammunition, oil, Energy Blocks, and food were there, but not in large amounts.

There were powerful weapons, but the ammunition wasn’t abundant, just enough to last a while, indicating that the Star Thieves were wary of ambushes.

Seeing dawn approaching, he used a Fire Dragon Technique to ignite the room full of people.

He poured a little oil inside and outside the house, confident that those people wouldn’t be able to escape.

As the flames roared skyward, he flickered and vanished into the darkness before dawn.

Dimly behind him came cries of alarm, Qu Jianlei ignored them, found Sullivan again, and carried him over ten kilometers further.

Qu Jianlei had been concealing himself in the surroundings for so long, he had already built several hideouts.

Bringing the person to a Secret Camp, he took out some Healing Medicine, "Use it yourself."

Sullivan knew the other person had surpassed a C-level Warrior and naturally didn’t dare trouble him.

He identified the instructions for the various Healing Medicines, ingesting those to be swallowed, applying those to be applied.

However, while applying the medicine, his eyes gradually reddened, until finally, tears slowly trickled down.

Initially, Qu Jianlei didn’t notice, but later became somewhat puzzled, "You are... what’s the matter?"

"Sob sob," Sullivan responded, unable to restrain his choking, "If there were these medicines back then... they wouldn’t have died!"

He recalled his deceased wife and son, the medicines available to Indigenous People were heartbreakingly few.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t particularly moved, not out of a hardened heart, but due to past experiences.

Back when he was in the Wasteland, he couldn’t even drink clean water, let alone medicine... what was that?

So, he spoke to distract the other’s attention, "Now that you’ve run, won’t your apprentices get implicated?"

The Woodworker’s hand paused in its application, his sobbing stopped, and without reflection, he answered.

"They might be blamed, but it’s not a big problem... They’re not relatives, if I didn’t run, I would definitely die."

Qu Jianlei asked again, "So your identity was exposed, who reported you?"

The Woodworker blinked a few times, internally suspecting if there was a traitor on the Blazing Fire side?

But apart from the person in front of him, only two people in Blazing Fire knew his identity, one of whom was Captain Mu.

So he dared not answer directly, after contemplating, he couldn’t help but give a wry smile, "Maybe... just bad luck recently?"

Come on... don’t accuse people unjustly! Qu Jianlei’s lip twitched involuntarily.

Yet, perhaps the other didn’t know he seemingly had a "bad luck attribute"?

After pondering, he asked, "Could it be that something you did recently drew others’ attention?"

"Recently... nothing..." Sullivan pondered, then suddenly furrowed his brow, "Could it be Pan Yifu?"

"Pan Yifu?" Qu Jianlei raised his eyebrows, "You’ve had contact with this person?"

"No," the Woodworker spread his hands, expressing innocence, "I just had my apprentices inquire about this person."

"It’s entirely your own doing!" Qu Jianlei couldn’t resist saying, even knowing it was unkind to speak thus to an injured person.

It wasn’t my bad luck, but you looking for trouble!

He was indeed a bit irked, "How many people do you think would know the name Pan Yifu?"

The woodworker was silent for a long time before sheepishly responding, "I thought about it too, maybe that’s a factor."

Then he couldn’t help but defend himself, "But it was you, sir, who told me the name, and you didn’t say I couldn’t mention it."

So it’s my fault, huh? Qu Jianlei rolled his eyes at the remark.

Speaking of the Imperial people’s character, it’s really bold—an ordinary person actually dares to speak to him like that!

However, seeing the tear marks on the other’s face, Qu Jianlei decided not to hold it against him.

He asked aloud, "Did you find out Pan Yifu’s whereabouts?"

"No," the woodworker shook his head wearily, "but in the past couple of days, a Star Thief governance point to the west was overthrown."

Qu Jianlei raised an eyebrow, "Were the supplies taken away?"

"No," the woodworker continued shaking his head, "it seemed like it was set on fire. I think it might have been Pan Yifu."

Qu Jianlei admitted that Pan Yifu did have the ability to remove a governance point.

But just because there was a fire, doesn’t mean it was definitely done by a Fire Attribute Warrior, right? I just started a fire myself earlier. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why do you keep looking for A-level Warriors? What exactly do you want to do?"

Sullivan chuckled. Before, he had been reluctant to share this information, thinking that only A-level Warriors were worthy of hearing it.

But now that the other had saved him, he was most likely going to join the Blazing Fire, so how could he keep it hidden?

After pondering, he replied, "I might have discovered a large warehouse of the Star Thieves and wanted to find someone to destroy it."

"A large warehouse?" Qu Jianlei raised an eyebrow; this was good news. "How confident are you?"

"Seven... Six tenths maybe," Sullivan didn’t dare to say more, "The perimeter is heavily guarded. Supplies are seen going in, but not coming out."

Qu Jianlei was genuinely curious now, "How did you come across this information?"

You underestimate me? Sullivan was speechless.

But he explained, "I have several suppliers also providing for the Star Thieves. More than one person mentioned it. I did a comprehensive analysis and think there’s a high possibility it’s a warehouse."

Hearing this, Qu Jianlei nodded. Learning to sift through and analyze intelligence is what makes a qualified scout. "You have a keen mind."

Sullivan replied, "Thank you, sir, for the compliment. I believe we should take action to destroy this warehouse before the great war."

Before the war might not be the best time! Qu Jianlei didn’t quite endorse the suggestion.

The Star Thieves’ resources aren’t abundant. The idea of destroying resources isn’t bad, but taking action before the war? How does that compare to during it?

When the battle begins and a sudden supply issue arises, that’s what truly demoralizes the troops.

Once combat starts, pulling out without paying a heavy price is impossible.

However, Qu Jianlei had no intention of discouraging the other, nor did he want to reveal his tactical thinking.

He replied seriously, "We will consider your suggestion. You just focus on recovering."

"Okay," Sullivan nodded, hesitated a bit, and couldn’t resist asking, "Are you leaving?"

Qu Jianlei smiled slightly, "Rest assured, this place is well concealed. I’m going to look for that Pan Yifu."

He had already put aside his worries about Youyou. What he needed to do now was create as much chaos for the Star Thieves as possible.

Moreover, he felt the need to seize some resources to make up for it.

Even if he didn’t need much, the Blazing Fire Team had needs.

"Looking for Pan Yifu?" Sullivan perked up again at the mention, "How do you plan to find him?"

"I have my ways," Qu Jianlei left it at that, then turned to leave.

When he exited the Secret Vault, dawn was just breaking. However, since this was a security zone, he had no qualms about acting during the day.

As for where to find Pan Yifu? Naturally, it was at the military station he had just set on fire.

If the woodworker’s guess was correct, and Pan Yifu had indeed burned the Star Thief governance point to the west, then now one here was also burned.

Upon hearing this, wouldn’t Pan Yifu want to investigate whether someone was impersonating him?

Concerned about his reputation, an A-level Warrior wouldn’t overlook this.

In any case, Qu Jianlei planned to lie in ambush there for a couple of days and see if he could catch Pan Yifu.

The burned military station had already been sealed tightly by the reinforced Star Thieves, with at least three B-level Warriors present.

However, the Ultimate Warriors weren’t the focus; the focus was on the fifty or sixty Mechas that had also arrived.

Qu Jianlei didn’t mind a few Mechas, but once this thing scaled up, it became quite the headache.

Thinking about it now, people like Bobov having prejudices against Mecha Warriors isn’t coincidental at all.

Ultimate Warriors grow through step-by-step cultivation, while Mecha Warriors can be mass-produced.

As long as the production line can churn out enough Mechas, ordinary people with a little training can become Mecha Warriors.

Even though Qu Jianlei is already at A-level, facing the boundless production capabilities of modern industry, he can only concede defeat.

(First update of September, asking for guaranteed monthly votes.)