21: Chapter 21 Rocket-like Speed of Improvement
"So many slaughter values?!"
Lin Mo looked at the slaughter value column on the system panel and couldn't help but feel a secret surge of joy.
Half an hour ago, he was still feeling regret over the thirty-four slaughter values he had lost on the road, but he hadn't expected to become a tycoon in the blink of an eye.
"It seems killing ranked ferocious beasts is more cost-effective; the efficiency is much higher."
Lin Mo sighed with emotion.
A Rank 1 mid-stage Ghost-faced Spider provided 25 slaughter values. He had killed eighteen? Or was it nineteen?
Plus the 400 slaughter values contributed by the Rank 2 late-stage Ghost-faced Spider King...
"Excellent, level up my cultivation!"
Lin Mo gave the order directly. Sitting on a mountain of gold without spending it was the height of stupidity; converting slaughter values into strength was the only way. Only with greater strength could he acquire slaughter values even faster.
A system prompt popped up.
[Ding~ 150 slaughter values consumed. Host's cultivation has increased to Rank 1, Level 6. Remaining slaughter values: 788.]
"Continue!"
[Ding~ 160 slaughter values consumed. Host's cultivation has increased to Rank 1, Level 7. Remaining slaughter values: 628.]
"Don't stop!"
[Ding~ 170 slaughter values consumed. Host's cultivation has increased to Rank 1, Level 8. Remaining slaughter values: 458.]
"Keep going, keep going!"
[Ding~ 180 slaughter values consumed. Host's cultivation has increased to Rank 1, Level 9. Remaining slaughter values: 278.]
"Don't be so rigid, keep going, don't stop!"
[Ding~ Host's cultivation has reached the Rank 1 limit. Advancing to Rank 2, Level 1 requires 400 slaughter values. Current slaughter values are insufficient.]
Lin Mo was stunned.
"What? Wasn't it 190? It doubled?!"
He was a bit surprised, but he soon understood.
After Rank 2, every level increase in cultivation would add more attributes. It would be unreasonable if the slaughter value cost remained the same.
"It seems after Rank 2, every level up will require at least 400 slaughter values, maybe even more..."
"The road ahead is long and arduous!"
Lin Mo suddenly felt that he didn't have enough slaughter values to spend.
The 10,000 slaughter values needed to upgrade God Speed were still nowhere in sight, while the cost to raise his cultivation was increasing. It seemed he was destined for a life of toil; he couldn't stop, he simply couldn't stop.
"Open attribute panel!"
[Name: Lin Mo]
[Class: Awakener]
[trait: God Speed (high-grade purple)]
[Cultivation: Rank 1, Level 9]
[Strength: 53]
[Agility: 66]
[Constitution: 49]
[Spirit: 54]
[Techniques: Flowing Cloud Aurora Slash LV2 (8/100), Basic Saber Technique LV9 (27/100), Lingyan Steps LV1 (12/100)]
[slaughter value: 278]
[achievement points: 7]
...
The gray mist in the Black Needle Forest had not yet fully dispersed, and the smell of blood in the air was thick enough to be palpable.
Three veterans were urgently tending to the wounded.
Zhou Dongmei, who had been ensnared by the spider web, now had a livid face and faint breathing. The vice-captain, Old Yu, was injecting her with Military Anti-venom Serum.
But the other boy, Sun Yueming, had already completely lost his heartbeat.
Another veteran, Old Hei, was compressing his chest, but it seemed to have no effect at all.
"Pupils dilated, he's gone."
Old Hei stopped dejectedly and covered the young but already stiff face with a white cloth.
Wu Feng slammed a fist into a nearby blackened tree trunk; the bark shattered and wood chips flew.
He spun around abruptly, staring at Zhao Fansheng with bloodshot eyes.
"That sentence you shouted earlier—what exactly was that about?!"
Everyone instantly looked at Zhao Fansheng.
Zhao Fansheng's face turned pale. He glanced at Lin Mo, who was not far away, and finally gritted his teeth and said:
"Captain, I... I was too nervous at the time and misspoke."
"Actually, I saw Student Sun Yueming accidentally touch the spider silk and wanted to warn Lin Mo to be careful, but in my haste, I shouted the wrong name..."
He lowered his head, seemingly full of self-reproach.
"It's all my fault... If I had reacted faster and pulled Sun Yueming back, maybe he wouldn't have..."
As Zhao Fansheng spoke, his eyes turned red.
This performance was practically perfect.
Even the expressions of the two veterans nearby softened slightly.
After all, throughout the journey, Zhao Fansheng had always acted humble, polite, and helpful. In the chaos of the Black Needle Forest earlier, a slip of the tongue due to nervousness seemed plausible.
Lin Mo leaned quietly against another tree, wiping the foul blood from his blade with a cloth. He didn't even lift his head; he had no interest in watching Zhao Fansheng's clumsy acting.
And Wu Feng didn't seem entirely convinced either.
A veteran's intuition told him something was wrong.
Zhao Fansheng's reaction at the time had been too amateurish—so amateurish that he was worse than an ordinary recruit, which completely contradicted his past performance.
Furthermore, from the moment the spider silk was triggered to the Ghost-faced Spider's screech, and then to him shouting 'Lin Mo, watch out,' those three things happened almost simultaneously.
If he had truly seen Sun Yueming touch the silk, a normal person's first reaction should have been to shout Sun Yueming's name, not someone else's in the midst of the chaos.
Unless... he had known all along that the silk would be triggered and had prepared to shout Lin Mo's name beforehand.
"Are you sure?"
Wu Feng stared at Zhao Fansheng, his gaze cold.
"I'm sure!"
Zhao Fansheng nodded vigorously and even raised his hand, saying:
"I can swear it! Captain, I know this mistake caused serious consequences. I'm willing to accept any punishment once the mission is over!"
Since he had put it that way, further questioning would seem unreasonable.
Wu Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the doubts in his heart.
The front line was like this; often, the truth would be buried, and survival was the only absolute.
The most important thing right now was to reach the 16th Patrol District as quickly as possible.
"Pack your gear. We'll rest for five minutes, then continue our journey."
In the end, he didn't plan to pursue the matter further, but he gave Zhao Fansheng a deep look before turning away.
The warning in that look was self-evident.
Zhao Fansheng lowered his head, hiding the coldness that flashed in his eyes.
He knew the captain was suspicious, but as long as there was no concrete evidence, he was still that genius with a Blue Trait and excellent performance—a vital combatant for the team.
What he didn't notice was that Lin Mo, under the tree, had finished wiping his blade and was hesitating whether to kill him now... or later!
Lin Mo hesitated for a moment but ultimately made the same choice as Captain Wu Feng.
He would kill him later. Doing it now would have a bad influence.
Moreover, Lin Mo had some things he wanted to ask Zhao Fansheng clearly. It would be best to find a moment when they were alone, ask the questions, and then kill him.
Lin Mo naturally saw everything clearly.
The spider silk had been touched intentionally by Zhao Fansheng, and the gravel had been kicked intentionally by him too.
That shout of 'Lin Mo, watch out' was a carefully designed misdirection. If Lin Mo had actually 'carefully lowered his head' as instructed, there would be one more person covered by a white cloth right now.
As for Sun Yueming... he was an unplanned sacrifice in Zhao Fansheng's scheme, an unlucky scapegoat.
"I'll let you live a little longer!"
The fact that Lin Mo didn't expose Zhao Fansheng on the spot didn't mean he was letting him off the hook.
The military had its rules. Even if he brought forth evidence to prove Zhao Fansheng intentionally touched the silk and murdered Sun Yueming, the most severe outcome would be a court-martial, and there was still a chance he wouldn't die.
And Lin Mo didn't believe that someone who had harbored murderous intent toward him and acted on it deserved to stay alive.
"This kid wants to kill me so badly... is it because of Wang Yan? Or some other reason?"
Lin Mo speculated privately.
This was also what he wanted to clarify.
According to his way of doing things, anything that threatened him had to be dug out and snuffed out.
Five minutes later, Zhou Dongmei woke up.
The anti-venom serum had worked, but she was still too weak to stand steadily. Her face was pale and her lips were parched; she needed someone to support her just to barely walk.
"Captain, she can't travel like this."
"There are at least twenty kilometers of mountain roads from here to the 16th Defense Zone. In her state, she'll collapse before she's even halfway."
Bearded Old Hu said with a frown.
"Old Li and I will take her back to the camp. You guys keep going; we can't afford any more delays."
Another veteran, Old Gao, suggested.
Wu Feng looked at Zhou Dongmei's pale face and then at the time. Only one hour and fifteen minutes remained of the two-hour limit, and they had only covered a third of the distance.
"Alright."
"Old Gao, Old Hu, you two escort her back. Stay safe on the road. The rest of you, continue forward with me."
He gritted his teeth and made the decision.
Zhou Dongmei was helped up and supported by the two veterans as they headed back.
The team was reduced to eight people: Wu Feng, the two veterans Old Yu and Old Hei, Zhao Fansheng, Lin Mo, two boys, and Yi Xiaoyu.
"Let's go!"
The road ahead became even more difficult. Without hesitation, Wu Feng took the lead and charged into the dense forest ahead.