Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 407 - 285: I Have a Friend

Increased search efforts? Qu Jianlei felt a bit puzzled upon hearing this.

Entering the cave, he first smelled the aroma of food, and suddenly felt a bit famished.

These past few days, he hadn’t eaten anything substantial, and since the camp was cautious about smoke giving away their location, cooking was done at night, just in time.

While he was wolfing down his food, Mu Huahua came over upon hearing the news, "Why have you been gone for so many days?"

Qu Jianlei, eating, pointed to the big bag beside him and mumbled a reply.

"Got some food and medicine, along with other bounties. I’ll go fetch them later."

"Medicine?" Mu Huahua’s eyes lit up, "Where’d you get it from?"

The superpower warriors and modified warriors have bodies far stronger than normal people, but they can’t rely solely on their strength, can they?

However, getting medicine is too difficult, even the known checkpoints have no stock; they strictly prohibit the indigenous people from using medicine.

"Stole it," Qu Jianlei replied vaguely, "I promised Ah Hu to get some medicine for him."

"You two really have a good bond," Mu Huahua glanced at the big bag, "Can others use it too?"

"What are you saying," Qu Jianlei replied offhandedly, "By the way, some medicines are expired."

"Expired ones are the real deal," Mu Huahua walked towards the big bag, "Can I take a look?"

Qu Jianlei waved his hand, too lazy to speak, and continued devouring his food.

Black Heaven brought back medicine... The news quickly spread throughout the small camp.

Blazing Fire’s wounded hadn’t healed for a long time, mainly due to the lack of medicine.

Relying solely on life’s instincts... many with minor injuries worsened to serious ones.

Moreover, Mu Huahua was surprised to find, "There’s even Imperial-produced liquor?"

Fat Fox’s secret vault didn’t have liquor; these bottles were bought by Qu Jianlei while in the gorge.

To prevent people from making connections, he specifically stuffed a few bottles in—both Mu siblings loved this stuff.

Mu Huahua’s eyes brightened like bulbs, "Compared to this liquor, the homemade brew is undrinkable!"

Many pioneer team members liked drinking, and several could brew liquor.

But due to grain scarcity, they could only rely on local plants for brewing, the taste... was indescribable.

While the wounded helped each other apply medicine, Qu Jianlei finished eating and sought out Mu Huahua, "Things not going well recently?"

Mu Huahua revealed half of her pale shoulder, applying medicine to herself—pioneers have fewer taboos.

Nodding at his words, she said, "The search frequency increases daily, I suspect something’s up."

This camp functions like a field hospital. After Qu Jianlei left, everyone’s main task was to conceal themselves.

Although a few team members are fine, no one would go out to gather information.

Only Mu Huahua secretly ventured out three times, but she didn’t dare go far, she doesn’t possess Black Heaven’s level of perception.

It’s not about bravery, but being the hospital’s top combat power, she absolutely cannot be harmed.

These over twenty injured, were escorted out by the Mu captain at great risk, they’re all core members of the team, cannot be lost.

When Mu Huahua went out, she brought a radio, but dared not contact her brother these days.

Now that Black Heaven is back, she finally has someone to confide in.

"That’s easy," Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation, "I’ll contact Captain Mu tonight."

"By the way, have you heard of the Turtle Breathing Technique?"

"Turtle Breathing Technique... Blazing Fire doesn’t have it," Mu Huahua, indeed familiar with the matter, said, "Even the Profound-level Team rarely has it, but the Celestial Level must have it."

Then she looked at Qu Jianlei, curiously asking, "Are you interested in it?"

Qu Jianlei nodded slightly, "A friend of mine wants to observe the cultivation method... how can we get it?"

"That’s easy," Mu Huahua motioned to her own shoulder, "It used to be hard to get, now it depends on this."

"Medicine?" Qu Jianlei frowned, "But I really didn’t get much medicine."

He’s already tried hard to negotiate for medicine with Pan Yifu, but Fat Fox’s medicine stock is also limited.

He put half in his backpack, the remaining half might not be enough?

Hearing this, Mu Huahua rarely frowned and tentatively asked, "You’re not thinking of sharing the medicine, are you?"

"This is the camp’s medicine," Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation, "I’m worried about how much more to get."

Mu Huahua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "This much more should suffice, trade with Hongyun, the Engineer Battalion can’t afford it."

The Engineer Battalion was once a Celestial Level Team, now demoted to Profound-level Team, certainly easier to negotiate than other Celestial Level Teams.

After Blazing Fire lost the camp, the Engineer Battalion became the main target of the Star Thieves, currently having tough days.

Qu Jianlei frowned, "So, I’ll have to go back again?"

He’s not afraid of re-entering the encirclement, but with just Mu Huahua watching the camp, it’s truly challenging.

But if he doesn’t go now, and if the Engineer Battalion gets scattered later, his trading costs will increase.

Mu Huahua also didn’t want him to leave, "Aren’t you going to contact my brother tonight? Let him ask for help first."

"That’s also an option!" Qu Jianlei’s thoughts jumped again, "Does Blazing Fire want cannons?"

"Cannons?" Mu Huahua was startled upon hearing this, then delighted, "Can you get some? What type?"

Qu Jianlei described the appearance of the cannons, "...However, all the automatic control systems are destroyed, they can only be operated manually."

"These kinds of cannons... manually operated?" Mu Huahua couldn’t help but frown.

Converting fully automatic cannons to fully manual operation will be highly demanding on the artillery operators, and the interface will definitely not be user-friendly.

But then she smiled, "I was overthinking it, having cannons is better than none, how many are there? How many shells are available?"

"There are eight!" Qu Jianlei shook his head, "I’m not really sure, if you’re interested, I can inquire about it."

Mu Huahua looked at him thoughtfully, "You’ve only been out for a while, and you’ve already built such a large intelligence network?"

But this was not doubt, just admiration. The next moment she said, "We don’t need them, don’t ask me, let’s ask my brother together."

"Alright then," Qu Jianlei yawned, "Is there anything else? If not, I’ll go rest."

Mu Huahua did have a few things, but seeing how exhausted he was, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

It was clear that he had been running around nearly ten days, likely busy gathering supplies, which left him so tired.

She nodded slightly, "Alright, it’s all some unimportant trivial matters, you go rest first."

Qu Jianlei only realized after he woke up that he had slept until the next afternoon, almost a day and a half.

But this sleep was indeed satisfying, he felt particularly refreshed upon waking up.

After washing up, he had a big meal, then went to check on Ahu’s injuries.

Yesterday he was just too tired to even visit him.

Ahu was in deep sleep, his snoring was very steady, suggesting his injuries should be quite stable.

Then he nodded to Mu Huahua, "I saw you just now hesitating to speak, did you want to say something?"

Mu Huahua replied, "Yesterday and today, there were a total of five waves of star thieves searching nearby, the closest time they were less than two meters from the gate."

"Everyone felt a bit odd, but you were sleeping so soundly, we didn’t call you."

"You could just call me," Qu Jianlei responded indifferently, although he could feel everyone’s concern.

But then, he realized a problem, "If they didn’t find us within two meters, were they modified warriors?"

He had camouflaged the entrance very cleverly, but no matter how clever, there’s a limit.

The camp’s outer lookout posts have shifts, and no matter how cautious they are, it’s impossible to guarantee that not a trace of scent would leak out.

In this situation, the fact that they had no reaction even being so close meant they were probably not even C-level warriors.

Mu Huahua shook her head, "Many of them aren’t modified warriors... probably just conscripted indigenous people."

"What?" Qu Jianlei’s eyebrows furrowed immediately, "Indigenous people participating in the search?"

"Yes," Mu Huahua nodded, feeling his reaction was a bit much, "Star thieves often conscript indigenous people, don’t they?"

"No," Qu Jianlei shook his head. Star thieves indeed use indigenous people for tasks, including capturing spies like Sullivan.

But having the indigenous people search the Pioneer Team, that’s something else—most natives see the Pioneer Team as relatively friendlier.

Moreover, the star thieves being dominant now doesn’t mean they always will be; Zarif Star used to be held by the Pioneer Team, after all.

So having indigenous people search for the Pioneer Team is essentially futile, and even damages the raiders’ prestige.

In fact, many indigenous people, when encountering pioneers, not only don’t report them but also take the opportunity to divulge some intel to them.

In short, for the star thieves, conscripting indigenous people to search for the Pioneer Team is definitely more harmful than beneficial.

The fact that the star thieves have changed their way of doing things indicates that something significant and unknown has happened.

Qu Jianlei roughly explained the situation, and when he finished, he was surprised to find that most people were listening intently.

A gold attribute C-level warrior raised his hand and cupped his fist, "Thank you, Black Heaven, for the explanation, but what exactly happened?"

Qu Jianlei lit a cigarette, "I’m not too sure either, let them pull back for now... do they really think their lair is that secure?"

This kind of large-scale mobilization of civilians for a search must require a strong control ability, otherwise it will backfire greatly.

Before, the star thieves dared not operate like this, but now they do. It’s really curious: who gave them the courage?

When dusk approached, Qu Jianlei quietly left the camp.

He didn’t cause trouble near the camp, the consequences for that would be too severe.

If the search density and intensity increased, the exposure of the secret camp would just be a matter of time.

More seriously, if they encountered shelling, there wouldn’t be a single survivor in the camp.

The secret camp that Qu Jianlei built was theoretically very solid, embedded deep in the mountain belly, extending twenty meters underground.

However, if a wave of thermobaric bombs came, all these measures would be useless.

So Qu Jianlei avoided making moves nearby. Even a rabbit knows not to eat the grass around its burrow.

He selected a medium-sized military station twenty kilometers away.

(To be continued, please vote for the monthly poll and continue subscribing.)