Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 458 - 330: Screening

The unlucky ones were not only the second-in-command; the star thieves in the same area with him also tasted the concentrated bombardment of artillery.

However, it didn’t take long before the star thieves returned fire.

Some of the artillery had been damaged, and the star thieves had not pre-set the shooting parameters, so their response was still a bit slow.

The initial artillery fire was sparse, and by the time it became dense, most of the Pioneer Team members had successfully escaped.

The artillery that was supporting the Pioneer Team quickly repositioned after a brief firing.

They have been dealing with the star thieves for some time now, mastering the art of guerrilla warfare and are adept at the "hit-and-run" tactic.

In the exchange of artillery fire between the star thieves and the Pioneer Team, quite a few Pioneer Team members who rebelled again were mistakenly injured.

However, there was nothing that could be done about it, and they could only blame their bad luck.

In fact, quite a few star thieves were also injured by their artillery fire, making them even more reluctant to pursue.

But what Qu Jianlei was most concerned about was whether A-level star thieves would continue to pursue and kill them.

Because many of the intercepting artillery had already repositioned, they needed to recalibrate the shooting parameters, which couldn’t be done in haste.

If the enemy wanted to seize the time gap, now would be the best chance.

Although there was still a large amount of laser sniper rifles in the supporting team, if more A-level enemies came, they might not hold out.

If the second-in-command continued to act, equipping those A-level star thieves with rock armor, the situation would become more dire.

Fortunately, after the second-in-command, no second A-level star thief appeared.

Much later, Qu Jianlei found out why no A-level star thief continued to appear.

It wasn’t that the star thieves didn’t have any A-levels left; they just didn’t want to push the Diamond Team completely to the opposite side.

Furthermore, everyone had already planned to flee; was it worth risking their lives over a matter of pride?

The consequences of the second-in-command’s pursuit were clear to the star thieves, so who would risk it, thinking the Pioneer Team might have more pre-set artillery?

So this time the support was quite successful—if you don’t count the mistaken injuries of some Pioneer Team members, that is.

But those Pioneer Team members who didn’t manage to escape in time were unlucky; once daylight broke, the star thieves started capturing them en masse.

That very day, over five hundred pioneers were shot, the scene was exceptionally bloody.

In fact, these pioneers who didn’t escape had one thing in common—they were all from small frontier groups.

The members of the Diamond Team had already passed the word on to most of their own members; even if some didn’t want to return, they hoped not to make it public.

They agreed that once things started, it was all about killing, creating chaos, and escaping, and the routes were clear.

The members of those smaller frontier groups didn’t have those conditions, they could only escape with the crowd.

Star thieves had no qualms about killing members of small teams; they were ruthless in their killing without fear.

Even for a Profound-level Team, the highest cultivation level in their headquarters was only A-level. Should they worry about their revenge?

Previously, the star thieves did not spare their lives not because they had mended their ways, but because they deemed the cost too high.

The bloody slaughter of this day reminded everyone again that star thieves are, after all, star thieves; the word "mercy" is not in their vocabulary.

But this was none of Qu Jianlei’s concern; he just needed to complete the support task.

As for those who switched sides unsuccessfully for a second time and ended up dead, what did that have to do with him?

No matter how conscientious one might be, few would take responsibility for opportunists.

What Qu Jianlei was genuinely concerned about was whether any star thief spies remained among the returning pioneers.

Success was right in front of him, and he didn’t want any carelessness on his part to cause unexpected losses to the Pioneer Team.

This returning group of pioneers numbered over twenty thousand, and identifying each one would be a massive task.

Fortunately, Mu Guoguo, the head of the Blazing Fire Team, who had witnessed Black Heaven’s wonders, was the first to express full support.

As soon as he showed his support, many Pioneer Teams announced they would follow suit: it was indeed necessary to investigate and identify the spies.

Not only did everyone hate the star thieves, but they also detested the spies, especially since many team members were recuperating in the field hospital.

In the end, everyone owed a debt of gratitude to the Blazing Fire and Black Heaven; investigating the star thieves’ spies was politically correct, so why not?

The inspection of the returning Pioneer Team members took the collective three days.

Twenty groups were responsible for the inspection; however, they couldn’t keep up, with more than twenty thousand returning!

Each group had to investigate over a thousand people, with a minimum of more than three hundred investigated daily.

With a twelve-hour work schedule, that meant investigating thirty people per hour!

Average to each individual, that’s a two-minute inspection per person... this kind of inspection was practically just going through the motions.

After three days, the nearly hundred members of the twenty investigative groups were all exhausted like dead dogs.

As for the results of the investigation, no one was very confident about them.

Despite their efforts in analyzing and judging, the number of people to be investigated was too large, and too little time was available for consideration.

The crowd was complaining when Mu Guoguo walked in with a sheet of paper, "Arrest these 195 people. Kill the resisters without mercy!"

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, and someone plucked up the courage to ask, "Captain Mu, do these people have issues or suspicions?"

"You just need to arrest them," Mu Guoguo replied nonchalantly, "If there’s a problem, Blazing Fire will take responsibility!"

Currently, although Blazing Fire is not yet comparable to the Profound-level Team, it’s already the most remarkable of the Earth Level teams!

These words were quite responsible, yet someone still harbored doubts, "So quick to make a decision, which team conducted the analysis?"

"Captain Mu, it’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s mainly because lives are at stake... we must be cautious."

"I said Blazing Fire would take responsibility," Mu Guoguo stated sternly, "We understand if a few have dissent."

Here, he smiled faintly, "But since you have your say, if anything goes wrong, it’s none of Blazing Fire’s business."

Captain Mu knew Black Heaven prohibited disseminating the news, which is why he spoke this way, otherwise, why not proudly wave the flag?

However, his words were sheathed in needles—dare to question me, then you must bear the responsibility.

But, who dares to promise such responsibility? Not even discussing the liability, just the initial screening exhausted everyone to the bone.

Someone chuckled and spoke, "Old Mu, we’re not outsiders, where’d you get this confidence?"

The one who said this was truly an old acquaintance, a schoolmate of Mu Guoguo, three grades above him, neither too close nor too distant, but with some ties.

This person is currently also B-level, a member of the Yan Yang Team, slightly inferior compared to Mu Guoguo who leads a team.

But from another perspective, leaning against a big tree for shade, some prefer to be a chicken’s head to a phoenix’s tail, which is also understandable.

Mu Guoguo slightly furrowed his brow, then smiled, "Some things are better left unknown, are you sure you want to listen?"

As expected, the person’s face turned white, clearly frightened. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He was keen on digging up secrets to satisfy his curiosity, but if it could bring trouble to himself, it truly wasn’t worth asking.

After a dazed moment, he chuckled awkwardly, "Then I dare not ask, Old Mu, you really have become successful, so imposing."

"You have an opinion?" asked a B-level sitting not far away, disapprovingly, "Captain Mu has indeed become successful, you’re not convinced?"

Upon hearing this, even Mu Guoguo couldn’t help but pause: Are you speaking for me, or trying to harm me?

Captain Mu was very certain he had never seen this B-level before.

But before he could speak, the schoolmate expressed his discontent, "Who are you? We’re chatting, what’s it to you?"

"I’m Qian Duoduo’s Soul Seeker," the man stated blandly, "Dare to repeat it?"

"Soul Seeker..." The schoolmate’s face changed upon hearing this, hesitated for two or three seconds, then turned and left without a word.

The Qian Duoduo Team gathered many geniuses, their operations so grand, that even the four great Celestial Level teams can’t match them.

Strictly speaking, the four great teams each have their own heritage, realistically speaking, Qian Duoduo can’t truly compete with them.

It’s just that in Zarif, Qian Duoduo’s investments were indeed very high.

Soul Seeker is one of the most famous geniuses, known as one of the "Little Seven Masters."

Indeed, he also has the Wind Attribute, like the Star Thief’s Seventh Master.

Though only B-level, he is adept at silently killing, his killing intent several degrees heavier than Su Dafeng’s.

Seventh Master’s killing intent is also significant, but his main task is to create panic through harassment, pinning down the Pioneer Team’s main combat power.

This is a strategic consideration, whereas Soul Seeker doesn’t speak of strategy—or rarely considers strategy—he specializes in killing.

In the eyes of B-level Star Thieves, he’s even more terrifying than Su Dafeng, though his influence is limited to B-level, not reaching A-level.

Anyhow, Qian Duoduo was indeed too assertive, able to recruit a B-level wind attribute user and employ him as an assassin.

Such a maneuver, the four great Celestial Level Teams might not even be willing to do—they came to Zarif for pioneering, not fighting team battles.

Looking at the noisy one departing, Soul Seeker glanced at Qu Jianlei and then squinted his eyes again.

In short, Qu Jianlei did a good job in this connection, it’s just that the follow-up work took a bit longer than expected.

Out of the 195 suspected spies, 15 attempted to resist and were killed on the spot.

The remaining 180 quietly accepted their fate.

However, Mu Guoguo did not arrange for further investigation, he followed Black Heaven’s instructions, directly stating.

"Break both legs of these people. Whether they’re guilty or not can wait until the Imperial reinforcements arrive."

Breaking both legs, if on Blue Star, even with a minor fracture, could have very serious consequences, possibly leading to lifelong disability.

But in the Imperial, this wasn’t considered serious, Imperial technology can achieve perfect resurrection.

However, there’s another issue, these treatments aren’t cheap, the treatment is doable, but where does the money come from?

Limb regeneration treatment, in the Imperial, basically has no restrictions, doesn’t require military merit or such.

Just one feature, it’s expensive! Only a few can afford it.

So Mu Guoguo’s order essentially laid down a verdict.