Chapter 9

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

When all of them sat around the bonfire again, everyone except Adams was extremely excited. Even Vivian, who had always been a woman of poise, had become rather lively.

“Look, Adams, I’ve already completed eight missions. When I get back, I’ll be able to obtain an A-rank evaluation at the very least!” Holding the mission list, Vivian shared her joy with Adams.

“Congratulations, congratulations!” Adams replied without much interest.

Garen and the others didn’t notice Adams’ strange expression. They asked in curiosity, “Big Brother, since you’ve collected so many resources, you must have completed most of your missions, right? Can you tell us if you’ve completed eight or ten?”

Adams shook his head with a bitter smile and sighed, “I’m not as lucky as you guys. I only completed one!”

“How is that possible!” Garen and the others were in disbelief.

Vivian looked at Adams thoughtfully and said, “Adams, can you show me your mission list?”

Adams nodded and pulled out his mission list from his quantum ring. Out of curiosity, everyone gathered around Vivian.

“F*ck! An S-rank Zerg scarlet spider’s silk gland, a pair of S-rank Zerg void centipede’s antennae, an S-rank evil blood spring… Why are these all S-rank missions?” Garen couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise when he saw Adams’ missions for the coming-of-age ceremony. The rest of them also became solemn, incredulous at the missions on this list.

Adams sensed that something was amiss and hurriedly asked, “What is it? Are your missions different from mine?”

Everyone exchanged looks with each other, not knowing what to say to Adams. In the end, it was Garen who handed his mission list to Adams.

When Adams’s gaze swept over Garen’s mission list, he immediately froze to the spot and his hands trembled uncontrollably as he held the list.

Amongst Garen’s missions, six of them were collecting materials, and they were all common C-rank materials. The other three missions were slightly more difficult where he had to kill B-rank Zergs. Aside from that, there was only one other mission that was related to S-rank Zergs.

It was the same coming-of-age ceremony, yet the difference in difficulty of the missions was too vast for Adams to accept.

Vivian, who had been silent all this while, scratched her head in sympathy as she said, “I’ve heard some inside information about the coming-of-age ceremony. It’s said in every coming-of-age ceremony, there will be two out of the hundred people attending the ceremony, who will randomly obtain a particularly difficult mission list. The missions on it are almost impossible to complete!

“Previously, I didn’t believe such rumours because I couldn’t understand the intention behind it. But after listening to your analysis, I think that this is probably also a way of saving resources!”

Adams was speechless for a moment. He had never expected that he would be the unlucky one destined to be eliminated from the very beginning!

Garen and the others couldn’t help but feel sorry for Adams when they heard that. Hence, they pulled out their mission lists.

“Big Brother, our lives were saved by you. Out of all of us, you are the one who should become a cultivator. Take our list!”

“That’s right! If it weren’t for you, we would have already died here. Just take it!”

Everyone expressed their willingness to exchange mission lists with Adams. This scene was very moving.

Even Vivian was moved. She handed her list to Adams and said, “You’d better take mine! After all, I can still cultivate with the elders in my family. I just won’t be able to obtain the cultivation resources allocated by the Federation. As a descendent of a military member, you’ll be mocked if you can’t complete the missions!”

Seeing that everyone was willing to sacrifice themselves for him, Adams felt very touched. However, he rejected everyone’s good intentions and said, “I appreciate your good intentions, but this extremely difficult mission list isn’t something that I can’t complete. At most, I’ll go down the mountain to explore. I don’t believe that I can’t find the S-rank materials needed for the missions!”

Vivian hurriedly said, “No, that’s too dangerous! The duration of the coming-of-age ceremony is one month. In a month’s time, the teleportation portal will be opened at the place where we arrived. If we delay our return, we’ll be left behind in this world. Even if the next coming-of-age ceremony is held here, the teleportation location might be randomized to somewhere else, and the outcome will be no different from permanent exile!”

Adams thought for a moment and decisively said, “Life and death are determined by fate. I will definitely return within three weeks. If I can complete this toughest mission list, I will definitely get the best evaluation!”

Looking at the confident and wild Adams, everyone was at a loss for words. His strong abilities made them feel that it was only right for him to be this arrogant!

Vivian didn’t try to persuade Adams any further. Instead, she resolutely said, “In that case, I’ll go with you! We can take care of each other, and we’ll have a better chance!”

Adams was not conceited enough to think that he could resolve all difficulties, so he nodded in agreement to Vivian’s suggestion. He then turned to the others and said, “Everyone, let’s rest here for a night. Tomorrow morning, I’ll escort you to the campsite on the mountaintop. We’ll set off after that!”

Although Garen and the others were still worried, they could only heed Adams’ instructions and find a place to sleep.

The next morning, Adams distributed some more food to each of them, and everyone ate as they made their way to the top of the mountain.

When they reached the top of the mountain and found the campsite at the cliff, they saw an unbelievable scene.

The campsite was surrounded by rocks and wood. Human corpses littered the ground, and only a dozen or so tall burly men were left. However, their faces were pale from hunger, and their bodies were hunched as they squatted in the campsite. They had bows and arrows in their hands as they guarded against their surroundings.

When they saw the food in the hands of Adams and the others, their eyes were filled with envy and desire. One by one, they crawled over to them like zombies.

“Food… Please give us some food…” the people in the campsite begged as they walked out. However, they quickly collapsed to the ground due to their frailty.

Adams’ brows knitted together involuntarily. These well-built men were originally the members that Anthony had arranged to be in the inner layer of the formation and they had been assigned more weapons and equipment. Clearly, they were going to be groomed as trusted subordinates. Yet now, it seemed that they were not having an easy time!

When Vivian saw this, she immediately rushed forward and asked, “What happened? Why did so many people die? What has Anthony been doing?”

A man looked up and said weakly, “Young Master Anthony didn’t give us food and didn’t care about our lives. Our injured companions all died because they lacked medicine! Some people even ate the corpses of the Zergs because they were famished and ended up being poisoned to death!”

“B*stard!” Vivian looked up at the only tent in the campsite, and rushed over with a pout on her face.

Outside the campsite, after witnessing this devastation, Garen and the others could not help but say to Adams, “Big Brother, let us go with you! What’s the difference between this safe zone and hell? We’d rather risk our lives with you than follow Anthony and lose our lives!”

Adams nodded and said in a deep voice, “We’ll talk about that later. I still have some food and herbs, go and distribute them to these people first!”