Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 397 - 275: Impervious to Reason

Pan Yifu didn’t share all of his inner thoughts; after all, they were A-level, who would be that shallow?

Just a few words were enough, no need to be so detailed.

However, he conveyed the general idea: I’m not that foolish, and I am cautious, but still, thank you.

After the two A-levels finished communicating, they effortlessly subdued two B-levels.

Pan Yifu didn’t seem too interested in Fat Fox defecting to the Star Thieves; instead, he was more curious about Qu Jianlei.

He didn’t interrogate the two captives at all but directly asked, "Up till now, I still don’t know what to call you?"

Qu Jianlei thought for a moment and straightforwardly answered, "I don’t really want to deal with you all. Just call me ’Wen Xin’."

Pan Yifu was stunned for a moment, then laughed indifferently; he certainly knew the other party wasn’t fond of him.

However, he didn’t mind. The fact that someone would step up and warn him in potential danger meant they were trustworthy.

So he asked with interest, "Is it that you don’t want to interact with me or... is it aimed at the entire military?"

"That’s not important," Qu Jianlei waved his hand and calmly stated, "I just want to live my life freely."

Seeing that oil and salt did not penetrate, Pan Yifu lost interest as well, "Did you just find out that Fat Fox defected to the Star Thieves?"

Qu Jianlei didn’t mind sharing information, "Something happened yesterday..."

He narrated the conflict between Black Rain and Diamond, even explaining the before and after clearly.

The only thing he didn’t mention was that it was Black Heaven who discovered Diamond’s members helping Star Thieves guard their base.

In this matter, the discoverer’s identity wasn’t that important; it could have been a regular scout, so he skipped over his part.

As for Fat Fox’s defection to the Star Thieves, that came from the Diamond Team captives’ testimonies, which seemed valid.

He spoke candidly, and Pan Yifu listened intently, but the two B-level warriors with Fat Fox turned pale.

They had no idea such a significant event had occurred; how did this ’Wen Xin’ get his information so promptly?

After Qu Jianlei finished speaking, the Earth Attribute Warrior gathered courage to speak, "Lord Pan..."

"Shut up," Pan Yifu rebuked him and then asked aloud.

"When did members of Diamond switch to guarding the Star Thieves?"

"I don’t know," Qu Jianlei answered tersely, "but it shouldn’t be long ago; if it were longer, it couldn’t stay hidden."

Upon hearing this, Pan Yifu laughed again, "So, are you saying you killed the Ninth Master, forcing the Star Thieves to respond?"

"Tch," Qu Jianlei felt speechless at these words, shouldn’t the Ninth Master have been killed?

He understood that the other party’s logic wasn’t wrong, but speaking like this could easily get you punched, understood?

Letting me take the blame would be one thing, but with a gloating attitude?

He didn’t want to argue, "Ask them about Fat Fox’s information, and where all the people from Secret Camp went."

The three heard this and looked at him in amazement, eyes full of disbelief.

Pan Yifu couldn’t help but ask again, "You actually know where their Secret Camp is?"

"On the mountainside," Qu Jianlei responded flatly, "there’s probably a lot of supplies inside... I’ve noticed long ago."

Pan Yifu’s expression turned strange, "Seems like you never intended to contact me."

"If I wanted to find you, you couldn’t hide," Qu Jianlei’s words became a bit arrogant.

But this old guy was too unlikeable; seeing him gloat like this, responding with a few jabs was mild.

Pan Yifu was taken aback, then finally sighed, "One last question, where do you come from?"

’Where do you come from?’ is a respectful inquiry, but Qu Jianlei glanced at him indifferently, then at the two captives, "Are you going to interrogate, or should I?"

Seeing that this guy was impervious to advances, Pan Yifu lost his temper and spoke disinterestedly, "You ask."

"Lord Pan," the Earth Attribute B-level couldn’t help but cry again, "I have always respected you greatly."

Pan Yifu looked at him calmly and answered, "If I interrogate you, I won’t be polite either."

The Earth Attribute Warrior immediately broke down, "But, but this lord... he will decapitate!"

Qu Jianlei’s identity recently fought only one battle, but the strong and ruthless image had already left a deep impression.

Pan Yifu always had a good impression of the Earth Attribute, sighed at these words, and looked at Qu Jianlei, "Should I do it?"

"Alright," Qu Jianlei nodded, he just wanted to get the intelligence; it didn’t matter who conducted the interrogation.

The Earth Attribute cooperated fully, pouring out everything he knew.

Fat Fox had long intended to defect to the Star Thieves, mainly because the Quantum Pioneer Team was a bit harsh on them.

The four main teams are all Celestial Level Teams, but their ways of doing things differ; each house has its style, which is not unusual.

However, after encountering a Star Thieves attack, the Pioneer Team had to evacuate the core area, increasing the pressure on the Pioneers.

In the face of such pressure, the different working styles of each Celestial Level Team presented different feelings to their hired subordinate teams.

In the end, during the process on the Pioneer Planet, it’s rare to encounter such unforeseen events; everyone wasn’t prepared with mature contingency plans.

The Quantum Team is known for its ruthless approach, having stringent requirements for hired teams, while prioritizing the survival conditions of their own team.

Such a working style is not necessarily bad; after all, without decisiveness, how can they explore Pioneer Planets?

However, they tend to be harshly exploitative towards their subordinates.

Without the comparison to the other three Celestial Level Teams, Fat Fox might have accepted it, but clearly... those three are different.

With discontent already brewing in their hearts and the survival conditions in the Pioneer Team camp becoming increasingly tough, people were on edge.

At this time, the Star Thieves sent scouts to lure Fat Fox, who, after some consideration, decided to betray.

There is no dramatic grievance, just sheer dissatisfaction, a very simple reason.

Even the Earth Attribute Warriors stated, "If it were the other three Celestial Level Teams who hired Fat Fox, we definitely wouldn’t betray."

Then both sides began their covert cooperation, with the Star Thieves not rushing for them to rebel.

Ironically, after Fat Fox’s betrayal, the Star Thieves actually provided them with some supplies.

The supplies weren’t much—since the Star Thieves also had to guard against another possible betrayal—but there were indeed supplies.

Additionally, the Star Thieves tacitly allowed Fat Fox’s people to move around in the security zone, and there were even two fixed contact points within the controlled area.

As for the Secret Camp on the mountainside, there weren’t many people inside, perhaps forty or fifty, but they were all skilled members of Fat Fox.

This is unlike Diamond, since both have aligned with the Star Thieves, but Fat Fox chose to leave the main force in the camp.

This might be related to Fat Fox’s number of people; after all, being just a Profound-level Team, they can’t compare to the manpower and might of a Celestial Level Team.

However, to Qu Jianlei, these differences were not important; he was more concerned with: Where did those experts go?

Yet the Earth Attribute Warriors stated: I’m also not sure where they went, but there’s a good chance they went to the Military Station.

Essentially, the two were tasked with contacting Pan Yifu, and out of concern for any accidents, Fat Fox sealed the relevant information from them.

Hence, large teams are truly different; the fact that Fat Fox could upgrade from Earth Level to Profound Level shows their noticeably heightened risk management awareness.

Pan Yifu felt a bit disappointed, and couldn’t help but say, "Are you sure you’re not lying to me? I will question that one separately in a moment."

Qu Jianlei’s mouth twitched subtly: Old Pan, this one really isn’t lying to you.

The Earth Attribute Warrior panicked upon hearing this, "Master Pan, I still want to live, how could I dare lie to you?"

"Stay alive?" Pan Yifu glanced at him in surprise, "Why would you think I might let you go?"

"Because I was coerced," the Earth Attribute Warrior stated frankly, "If I didn’t comply, I would be dead."

"Moreover, I have never done anything to harm the interests of the Pioneers. If you find that I lied in the future, you can kill me then."

"Master Pan, even if the Imperial Military captures the Star Thieves, they may not execute them all."

Pan Yifu wasn’t a soft-hearted person, yet he got along well with the man.

Upon hearing this, he hesitated, "Have you never provided intel to the Star Thieves?"

Harming the interests of the Pioneers involves not just killing, but also leaking certain information, the severity of which could surpass killing a few people.

"Never," the Earth Attribute Warrior shook his head decisively, "it’s just like I told you... I was coerced."

"When encountering similar tasks, I would basically try to avoid them. I still want to live openly and honestly within the Empire."

"That’s not easy," Pan Yifu couldn’t help but mutter.

At his age and status, he wouldn’t easily trust others, but these words... matched his consistent impression of the person.

So he hesitated for a moment and looked at Qu Jianlei, "What do you think?"

Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation, "Old Pan, you decide yourself, don’t ask me."

After a pause, he couldn’t help but say, "It’s a bit strange, leaking Sullivan’s identity doesn’t count as harming the Pioneer Team’s interests?"

"Sullivan?" the Earth Attribute Warrior looked confused, "Who is that?"

He even forgot about what he did, indicating that they really didn’t care at all about the life and death of the Indigenous People.

On the other hand, Pan Yifu had some recollection of this person; though at A-level, individuals of higher rank tend to disregard smaller figures, his memory was good.

"That woodworker?"

"Heh," Qu Jianlei chuckled dryly twice, not bothering to say more.

Pan Yifu dug out some memory of him, "Was he one of your people?"

"I wasn’t part of the Pioneer Team," Qu Jianlei shook his head, "If I’m not mistaken, that person was Blazing Fire’s informant."

"Blazing Fire..." Pan Yifu repeated quietly, saying no more.

Though Blazing Fire was only an Earth Level Team, their recent prominence was so strong that it subtly overshadowed the Profound-level Team.

Hydroelectric generator, the slaying of Su Dafeng, being a major target of the Star Thieves and not accepting surrender, Black Heaven’s recruitment...

Each of these events was extremely sensational recently, and they thrust Blazing Fire into the eye of the storm.

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