30: Chapter 30 Returning, Leaving, Joining

Returning to the outskirts of Huang Family Village and seeing the patrolling troops, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Everyone returned in a sorry state; almost everyone had multiple tears in their clothes, with some cotton batting exposed, and they were covered in dirt and grime from head to toe.

Incarnation and several coaches had their nerves tightly strung, their eyes carrying a hint of ferocity and killing intent.

Chen Yanshan and Liu Tingquan were still looking pale, clearly not having fully recovered from their exhaustion.

The soldiers who saw the Exploration Team return asked them with some curiosity about their experiences along the way.

Mo Yuemei was the most enthusiastic among them, excitedly bragging to them about their miraculous experiences on the journey.

"Oh my goodness! Let me tell you, our journey was truly perilous."

She recounted tales of battling the White-Haired Monkey King, ambushing large wild boars, escaping the pursuit of a boar pack led by the Boar King, and finally outwitting the pursuing boar pack until they dared not attack again—she described it all so vividly, it sounded like a martial arts novel.

The few stationed soldiers expressed disbelief that such a small group of people had the strength to contend with a pack of wild boars.

"Comrade, you're bragging without a second thought. Don't just blame it on Mutant creatures because you didn't find anything. Let me tell you, other Exploration Teams often do this; your excuse is a bit cliché."

Mo Yuemei was a bit annoyed, but she couldn't find a reason to refute it; after all, apart from the captain, the rest of them really only had the option to run, and they might not even have made it out alive.

Just as Mo Yuemei was recounting their experiences to the soldiers,

Everyone entered the encampment, checked their items, and most importantly, verified and reported their findings to the Recovery Bureau.

Before long, a transport vehicle arrived, and Incarnation, along with the staff from the Recovery Bureau who got off the vehicle, verified the harvest, recovering the job-change stones and meteorites.

"Captain Wang, your company's Exploration Team has harvested a total of 2 job-change stones and 6 meteorites this time, totaling 2.6 million yuan in recovery funds. It will be transferred to your company account within 1 to 3 working days. Please confirm and sign."

This recovery personnel was somewhat surprised by the harvest of this Exploration Team. Such a haul was actually the largest among the few civilian Exploration Teams here in a single operation.

Not only did other Exploration Teams have people injured every time they returned, but some even suffered severe injuries like missing limbs, and quite a few couldn't proceed due to infections from their injuries. Their harvests were becoming increasingly scarce, with only three or four meteorites per operation, and those were all job-change stones that had already been used.

He recalled the news brought back by the special forces team earlier: most job-change stones were now basically collected by those powerful Mutant creatures.

Especially with gregarious creatures, the intelligence and strength of these Mutant creatures were usually higher than others of their kind. Through leadership and command, they continuously collected those job-change stones in their own lairs.

This greatly increased the difficulty of obtaining job-change stones. Now, apart from the official Exploration Teams, only a small number of top-tier Exploration Teams in the country still had the ability to stably acquire job-change stones.

Moreover, some large organizations had already begun to cultivate their own combat-type Professionals, allowing those who could change jobs to join the Exploration Team and use the job-change stones immediately.

Of course, the danger involved was very high, but there would always be people who disliked the environment within the system and pursued individual development. This was human nature, which could not be avoided.

Thinking of this, he was somewhat worried about the special recovery team in the Bureau. Although their current firepower with military crossbows and light rifles was sufficient to deal with those Mutant creatures, these Mutant creatures were constantly becoming stronger.

As for why they didn't use large-scale artillery bombardment to sweep them, they had actually used it at the beginning, but the results were extremely unsatisfactory. As soon as these Mutant creatures heard explosions or gunfire, they would quickly scatter and flee.

Failing to kill these Mutant creatures quickly would also lead them to charge into human living areas, causing damage to the lives and property of the surrounding people.

And now, job-change stones were focused on investment in research-type Professionals. This was also unavoidable; for a country, improving scientific research strength was always the top priority for maintaining its leading position and competitiveness.

Their country had long ago realized the weight of the sayings "Falling behind means taking a beating" and "Science and technology are the primary productive forces."

Perhaps the state's lack of mandatory conscription for civilian Professionals also took this into account. Some combat-type Professionals were effective in executing certain operations, but they were, after all, a minority.

Incarnation immediately confirmed and signed. As for the experiences along the way, the Exploration Team needed to return to the camp at the entrance of Huang Family Village to register and record them.

Bringing everyone who had experienced 7 days of life-and-death speed back to the camp, the first thing everyone did was to go to the shower room built by the Recovery Bureau to wash up, cleaning away the fatigue, tension, and other states of the past six or seven days, and finally returning to the camp to sleep soundly.

In the afternoon, Incarnation received a mailed package; it was the 100-pound top-tier Compound Bow that Wang An had previously asked Coach Chen to help him customize. Wang An had tested it himself, and the limit draw weight of this Compound Bow could reach 120 pounds, which could be said to be the highest level of current civilian technology.

In the evening, the Exploration Team held a party in their camp, and everyone was very happy, which swept away the gloom of the past few days.

Chen Zhenhua raised his glass to toast Incarnation, the Exploration Team leader.

"Thank you, Captain. If it weren't for you, Captain, we would at least be missing limbs."

The others also followed, standing up to raise their glasses together.

"To the Captain!"

Incarnation stood up calmly, looked at everyone, and said,

"To courage!"

Everyone expressed their agreement.

"To courage!"

At the end of the party, Chen Zhenhua, Hu Jun, and Li Guohua held their glasses and said to Incarnation.

"I'm sorry, Captain, we are going back tomorrow."

Once their words were spoken, there was a moment of silence; Mo Yuemei also looked conflicted, but she did not join them.

"You haven't let anyone down. You participated in our company's exploration operation, and as your captain, I protected you. Now your operation is over. Returning to a normal life is the right thing to do."

"There is no need to feel guilty. Everyone is human, with families, loved ones, and friends. You have been out for so long, and your families must be worried."

"It is normal for you to return to your own lives and work. Our Exploration Team makes a living specifically from meteorite exploration, and I believe you already understand the hardships and dangers involved."

"So, there's no need to say anything else; we all understand."

The next day, the 25th, after everyone saw Chen Zhenhua, Hu Jun, and Li Guohua off, Mo Yuemei chose to stay.