Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 432 - 304: Ugly Beyond Imagination

"Quick escape?" Spirit Fox was stunned upon hearing the words and took a moment before asking, "Why would you think that?"

"Just asking," Qu Jianlei didn’t elaborate; the key was that Old Pan valued this secret highly, so naturally, he couldn’t speak carelessly.

Just asking... Spirit Fox glanced at him thoughtfully, then shook his head and answered solemnly.

"I can say with absolute certainty that there’s no quick path of escape; even if you get a Space Mecha, can you warp?"

"Never think that those Space Weapons of the Star Thieves are just for show... Even if you got a ship, you couldn’t escape!"

"I see," Qu Jianlei nodded, "Alright, you carry on, I need to find a place to replenish my Qi for a few days."

Spirit Fox glanced at him again but didn’t ask further, instead stating, "By nightfall, I have to leave; you all need to be careful."

After this attack, Qu Jianlei entered a state of recuperation once more, all the while keeping an eye on the Star Thieves’ reactions.

The Star Thieves indeed bolstered their defenses, launching extensive renovations at each military station.

They had also figured out a pattern: after Pan Yifu and Black Heaven captured a station, they would take some time to replenish Qi.

So now was the golden time to renovate the stations, and they had to seize it.

In addition, the Star Thieves also beefed up their searches in the security areas.

Every so often, indigenous people were killed under various suspicions, causing panic in the security areas.

Qu Jianlei felt that the Star Thieves were somewhat obsessed; adopting high-pressure policies now was driving the people towards the Pioneers, wasn’t it?

However, news soon followed that the Second Squadron, which had gone out for plunder, had returned.

The Second Squadron had two A-level Warriors; if they were to join the assault, the Pioneer Team would truly be in danger.

Qu Jianlei didn’t worry too much, maintaining the line that the battle was between the two major factions, having little to do with him.

Even if the Star Thieves continued to rule Zarif, he believed surviving was simple enough, he just didn’t believe the Imperial could forever remain oblivious to the anomaly.

Of course, he also had some expectations for the Pioneer Team’s counterattack; apart from studying the Turtle Breathing Technique, he focused on replenishing Qi to coordinate with them.

Seven or eight days later, Qu Jianlei suddenly thought of a question: when the Pioneer Team counterattacks, will the battle affect the Prisoner of War Camp?

After all, Youyou was a comrade he acknowledged, and he felt it necessary to make a trip to the core area.

Besides understanding Youyou’s situation, he could also take the opportunity to scout the Star Thieves’ movements.

During this time, while gathering information, Qu Jianlei had already picked a few suitable stand-ins.

Among them were Star Thief informants, as well as indigenous people who supported the Star Thieves.

He had no goodwill towards the indigenous people who sided with the Star Thieves; they did so purely for wealth and prosperity.

Everyone wants to live better, which is understandable.

But living better at the cost of betraying conscience and the interests of the majority, such people deserve no sympathy.

In the end, he chose an indigenous person who had a core area transit pass—the last choice was a flagpole who was an informant, this time let’s change it up.

However, he didn’t kill him; he just knocked the person out, tied him up, taped his mouth shut, and tossed him into a pit.

This indigenous person was called Boltney, similar in build to Qu Jianlei, considered slender among the Imperial people.

The guy’s face was full of pimples, even all over his neck, making anyone lose interest in taking a second look.

Boltney often applied some ointment; anyway, he looked odd overall.

Qu Jianlei found impersonating this person quite relaxing; although a bit disgusting, it also avoided the risk of being harassed like the flagpole.

To his surprise, Boltney in the core area was even more well-connected than the flagpole.

Whether it was because the guy looked too disgusting, a lot of people seemed to know him, and some even asked him what he was doing there.

Recalling his impression, Qu Jianlei replied with a smiling face—"Just here to see if the adults need me to do something."

That one sentence was enough; no one asked a second question, but someone did wave him off impatiently, "Get lost!"

Just like that, he maneuvered through until dusk, and surprisingly, no one investigated him.

Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but internally remark, could it be "because I’m ugly enough, so I can act freely"?

At dusk, just before curfew, people like Boltney who only had the qualifications to enter and exit needed to leave quickly.

Qu Jianlei had already gathered a lot of information, though mostly bits and pieces, it was enough to suffice.

During the day he couldn’t approach the Prisoner of War Camp, so he planned to sneak in at night.

Just as he was about to leave, a middle-aged man suddenly called out to him, "Ugly ghost, come here!"

You’re the ugly ghost, your whole family are ugly ghosts! Qu Jianlei walked over with a smile, "What can I do for you, sir?"

In truth, he could tell clearly; just from the middle-aged man’s attire and demeanor, he knew the other was also an indigenous person.

However, not all indigenous people are the same.

Boltney only had the qualifications to move in and out of the core area, while the other could reside within it.

The middle-aged man took half a step back in disdain, then pointed a hand, "Can you see over there? Go mix mud!"

Over two hundred meters away was a sizable construction site where some building was being erected, teeming with workers.

There’s no shortage of ultimate warriors among the Star Thieves, nor a lack of various construction machinery, yet there are still plenty of labor-intensive jobs in the core area.

Are the ultimate warriors’ superpowers used so casually? Isn’t construction machinery powered by energy too? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The thing is, free labor is the cheapest, so he got conscripted like this!

Qu Jianlei hesitated for a moment, then replied with a forced smile, "Sir, I... it’s almost curfew."

"Don’t worry, the curfew doesn’t concern you!" The middle-aged man covered his nose in disgust, "The smell is awful... get to work!"

The nodules on Boltney’s face indeed had a smell, a distinct fishy stench, and Qu Jianlei applied some concoction on himself too.

After all, it was somewhat disgusting, but as long as he knew he wasn’t like this, it was fine.

The work of mixing mud wasn’t too heavy, but since he played the role of a frail ordinary person, he naturally had to work intermittently.

As the night fell, lights were turned on at the site, meaning they had to work overnight.

The middle-aged man would occasionally walk over, scold Qu Jianlei a bit after seeing his condition, but other than that, nothing else.

The Star Thieves guards checking the curfew indeed didn’t pay any attention here.

When it came to midnight, someone actually brought food over, a bowl of thick, somewhat sour-smelling paste.

Is this for people to eat? Qu Jianlei’s mouth twitched a little.

Observing others eating heartily, he could only sigh inwardly and silently follow suit.

At that moment, a patrolling team was approaching from afar, someone shouted, "Why isn’t the work done yet?"

This time, it was the middle-aged man’s turn to step forward, smiling apologetically explaining that the plans had changed, adding lots of workload.

Qu Jianlei didn’t want to draw attention, so he kept his head down, chewing slowly.

But suddenly, he sensed something was off, a familiar aura approaching.

Cautiously lifting his head, he was immediately stunned: wasn’t that woman in the Star Thieves squad Youyou?

Youyou’s aura was still that of an ordinary person, clearly her cultivation level had been sealed.

However, she had an Overclocked Oscillating Short Dagger at her waist, though without firearms, it was clear she was no ordinary captive.

She scanned the surroundings coldly, looking unapproachable.

Feeling Qu Jianlei’s gaze, Youyou glanced coldly at him, her brows couldn’t help but crease slightly.

Obviously, Boltney’s appearance was also unacceptable to her.

Qu Jianlei lowered his eyelids, focused on eating, and subtly released a trace of spiritual power to lightly touch Youyou.

"Hmm?" Youyou immediately sensed something unusual.

If she hadn’t interacted with Qu Jianlei so much, she might have ignored it, but... this was a familiar sensation.

She scanned around again, locking onto Qu Jianlei—on the site, there was only one with a similar build.

She walked over, kicked him with her combat boots, and coldly ordered, "Raise your head!"

Qu Jianlei silently lifted his head, his ugly face meeting everyone’s eyes again, followed by an indescribable fishy stench.

Youyou subconsciously wrinkled her nose, continuing coldly, "Identification!"

Are you... really defecting to the Star Thieves? Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious.

However, in the end, he chose to trust his comrade.

He put down the bowl, squatted down, and replied in a dry voice, "I only have a pass, conscripted by the officer."

The middle-aged man saw the situation and hurriedly spoke up, "Sir, it was mainly due to the tight schedule... temporarily recruited a few people."

Immediately, he also kicked Qu Jianlei, "Quickly show the pass!"

No one noticed, a deeply hidden flicker passed through Youyou’s eyes.

They had been apart for a long time, but on the Garbage Star, they spent much more time together!

Especially since she heard, there was a Black Heaven electromagnetic B-level warrior, recently very active, causing the Star Thieves significant losses.

Youyou didn’t know how he joined the Blazing Fire Team, didn’t know why he cooperated with Pan Yifu.

But she was very sure, this Black Heaven was her comrade Qu Jianlei—where else in the Imperial could there be so many electromagnetic B-level warriors?

Pan Yifu had always been at the base, unaware that Jian Lei from Central City once used Black Heaven as a nickname.

Qu Jianlei took out his identification, placed it honestly on the ground, squatted while shifting his legs cautiously, retreating a few steps.

Am I doing a good job portraying a humble nobody?

Youyou’s lips slightly pressed, then she looked at the middle-aged man, coldly commanding, "Hand over the proof!"

The middle-aged man obediently stepped forward, bent over to pick up the proof, and respectfully handed it over with both hands.

Youyou didn’t reach to take it, just glanced at it, calmly asking.

"Don’t you know the risks of recruiting outsiders?"

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