53: Chapter 53 The Imposter

On the way back to camp.

The team walked back along the rugged mountain road.

Lin Mo fiddled with the spatial ring.

The space inside was quite large, nearly ten cubic meters, making it a top-tier item among medium-to-large capacity spatial rings.

This unexpected gain satisfied Lin Mo greatly. spatial rings of this caliber were almost impossible to buy with money; they could only be exchanged within the military using military merit, and a massive amount of it was required.

Zhou Xiong's generosity surprised everyone, but Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to guess his intentions.

It was nearing noon.

Wu Feng walked in the middle of the team, limping with a crutch. His left shoulder was still bandaged, but it was much better than the day before yesterday; he would fully recover in a few days.

Yuan Shoucheng walked in the front row with a gloomy expression, not saying much along the way.

Wu Feng held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help himself.

"Battalion Commander, how... how did the battle go on the main front?"

Yuan Shoucheng glanced at him and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Do you want the truth or a lie?"

Wu Feng was stunned for a moment. "The truth, of course."

Yuan Shoucheng stopped, took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"Half of Zhou Xiong's men are dead."

Wu Feng's expression changed.

"Half? Zhou Xiong had over three hundred men..."

"Three hundred and eighty-seven."

"One hundred and sixty-three returned. The rest are all left there."

Yuan Shoucheng exhaled a puff of smoke.

Wu Feng opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Yuan Shoucheng continued walking forward, his steps heavy.

"Do you know what appeared on the main battlefield this time?"

Wu Feng shook his head.

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and said word by word:

"Three Third-Order Lords, and one Fourth-Order Lord."

Wu Feng's legs went weak, and he almost fell.

"Lord... Lords?"

"Yes."

"Third-Order? Fourth-Order?"

"Yes."

Wu Feng leaned on his crutch, unable to speak for a long time.

In all his years as a soldier, he could count the number of Lord-level Fierce Beasts he had seen on one hand, and they were all above Tier Five. Lord-level Fierce Beasts of Tier Three or Four were likely rare throughout the entire country.

These things were too rare.

Ordinary Fierce Beasts were like stray dogs on the side of the road; they were everywhere, and a litter could have seven or eight.

Lord-level Fierce Beasts were different; they weren't born, they were forged through slaughter.

For a Fierce Beast to become a Lord, it needed to go through countless battles and break through its own species' limitations countless times, with only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of evolving into a Lord.

If one Lord could emerge from one hundred thousand Fierce Beasts of the same tier, it would be considered a stroke of immense luck.

Moreover, the strength of Lord-level Fierce Beasts was simply incomparable to that of ordinary Fierce Beasts.

A veteran at the peak of Tier Two could still trade a few blows with an ordinary Third-Order Fierce Beast if he risked his life.

If a Tier Two Awakener went up against a Third-Order Lord Fierce Beast, it was purely a death wish; it could sneeze and blow away a whole group.

Even a Third-Order Awakener would only have a chance to kill a Third-Order Lord if they had an overwhelming numerical advantage.

Wu Feng swallowed hard. "Three Third-Order Lords, one Fourth-Order Lord... How did our men survive that?"

Yuan Shoucheng gave a bitter smile.

"Survive? They held the line with their lives."

"On Zhou Xiong's side, five captains at the peak of Tier Three died, and two Fourth-Order captains died. As for the ordinary Tier Two and Three soldiers... I won't even mention them."

Wu Feng fell silent.

Yuan Shoucheng finished the last drag of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and crushed it with his foot.

"But that's not the most terrifying part."

Wu Feng looked up at him.

Yuan Shoucheng's voice dropped very low:

"The most terrifying thing is that these things didn't just appear on their own."

Wu Feng was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"They were manufactured," Yuan Shoucheng said slowly, staring at him.

Wu Feng's expression changed.

"Manufactured? Manufacturing Lord-level Fierce Beasts? How is that possible!"

Yuan Shoucheng was silent for a few seconds.

"Mimics appeared on the main battlefield."

Wu Feng's pupils contracted sharply.

"Mimics? They... they can control Lord-level Fierce Beasts?"

"Not control."

Yuan Shoucheng shook his head.

"I just said, it's manufacturing. They can mass-produce Lord-level Fierce Beasts!"

He looked at Wu Feng, his eyes terrifyingly heavy.

Wu Feng opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

Yuan Shoucheng continued:

"Zhou Xiong's men risked their lives to capture one alive, but before they could interrogate it, it self-destructed, killing three interrogators."

He paused:

"But right before it died, it said one sentence."

"What sentence?"

" 'He is coming.' "

A chill ran down Wu Feng's back.

He suddenly remembered something and asked in a low voice:

"Battalion Commander, you telling me all this... what are you suspecting?"

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and said in a low voice:

"I suspect there are Mimics among our own people."

Wu Feng was stunned.

"How is that possible? We have detectors—"

"Detectors are only useful against low-level Mimics."

"But if a Mimic has already devoured enough of its own kind, the detector won't be able to pick it up."

He looked at the soldiers resting in the distance, his eyes complex.

"The Lords that appeared on the main battlefield were Tier Three and Four. What does that mean? It means the Mimics that manufactured them are at least Tier Three or higher."

"Mimics above Tier Three look exactly like ordinary people. As long as they don't expose themselves, no one can discover them."

Wu Feng fell silent.

After a long time, he asked in a low voice:

"Then what do we do?"

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him.

"Start by investigating you people who went out on the mission."

"Tell me, did you encounter anything unusual while you were out this time?"

Wu Feng frowned and recalled carefully.

"Unusual... I don't think so. There were a few more Fierce Beasts, but it was within the normal range. I won't mention those who died, but for the ones who survived... I don't see anything unusual."

He paused, his voice dropping:

"Fang Ming and the others were surrounded and killed by Fierce Beasts; there was no sign of any Mimics."

Yuan Shoucheng nodded.

"What about the others? Are there any of those students in your detachment acting weird?"

Wu Feng shook his head. "Those two kids, Zhang Hao and Xiang Yifan, although a bit weak, are honest and straightforward; there's nothing unusual about them. Lao Hei and Lao Yu have been with me for five years, it's even less likely for them."

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him. "What about that Lin Mo?"

"Lin Mo? That kid..."

Wu Feng's expression suddenly changed.

"Battalion Commander, could Lin Mo be a Mimic!"

Yuan Shoucheng's brows twitched. "Don't talk nonsense! What evidence is there to prove that!"

Wu Feng looked around before lowering his voice.

"Battalion Commander, when we first set out, although that kid was strong, his combat power was at most mid-to-late Tier Two."

"But in just a few days, even I am no longer his match. I even heard from others in the team that when Lin Mo rescued Fang Ming's team, he killed two Third-Order Shadow Leopards by himself!"

Yuan Shoucheng narrowed his eyes.

"You're saying his strength increased from Tier Two to Tier Three in just these few days?"

"Yes."

Yuan Shoucheng was silent.

"Battalion Commander, this kid's rate of improvement is too abnormal. Apart from the Mimic's trait, I can't think of any other possibility..."

"Cannibalism?!"

"Yes! Only the Mimic's cannibalism, devouring a large number of Awakeners in a short time, could result in such an exaggerated increase in just a few days!"

Wu Feng looked at Lin Mo in the distance, his expression complex.

He didn't want to believe that his team member was a monster who gained power by devouring his own kind, but he couldn't convince himself otherwise.

Yuan Shoucheng was silent for a long time before speaking.

"Wu Feng, you're only 28, right? Have you ever seen a Mimic?"

Wu Feng shook his head. "No, I've only heard of them."

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and said word by word:

"I have."

Wu Feng was stunned.

Yuan Shoucheng's gaze passed over him and landed on the figure leaning against a tree with eyes closed in the distance.

"Eight years ago, when I was the captain of the First Detachment of the Elite Assault Team, I saw a Mimic expose itself with my own eyes."

His voice was calm, but Wu Feng heard a deep chill in it.

"That person was a veteran in our team who had been with me for two years. He was usually honest and reliable, always at the front when killing Fierce Beasts, and had saved the lives of three teammates."

"Then one day, he exposed himself on the battlefield."

"Do you know what he looked like when he exposed himself?"

Wu Feng shook his head.

Yuan Shoucheng closed his eyes, as if recalling the scene:

"His eyes turned dark red, his mouth split to the back of his head, he crawled on the ground, roaring like a beast, and then—"

"He started eating the corpses. The corpses of teammates who hadn't even stopped breathing yet."

Wu Feng's face turned pale.

Yuan Shoucheng opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Before exposing themselves, Mimics are exactly the same as normal people, but they have one thing in common—"

"They have a scent on them."

"What kind of scent?"

"I can't describe it," Yuan Shoucheng shook his head.

"It's not a physical smell, it's a kind of... aura that makes people instinctively disgusted. After spending a long time with them, you'll inexplicably want to stay away from them."

He looked at Lin Mo in the distance.

"When you were with him these past few days, did you have that feeling?"

Wu Feng was stunned and recalled carefully.

Then he shook his head.

"No. Although that kid doesn't like to talk, being with him... it's quite reassuring."

Yuan Shoucheng nodded.

"There's one more thing."

He looked at Wu Feng:

"There is a price for Mimics to get stronger by devouring their own kind. The more they devour, the greater the risk of losing control. In the later stages, they can't control their instincts at all; whenever they see injured people or corpses, their eyes turn red."

"You just said that kid saved three female students from two Third-Order Shadow Leopards. If he really were a Mimic, would those three female students have been able to return alive?"

Wu Feng fell silent.

Yuan Shoucheng patted his shoulder:

"I know what you're thinking. An ordinary student becoming this strong in a few days is indeed scary."

"But being scared is one thing; don't guess blindly."

"That kid does have secrets, but this secret is not that he is a Mimic."

Yuan Shoucheng looked at Lin Mo in the distance and suddenly said:

"Go, call him over."

When Lin Mo walked over, he still had that expressionless look on his face.

"Wu Feng told me about what happened this time."

Lin Mo nodded.

Yuan Shoucheng paused and continued:

"You did a good job."

Lin Mo didn't speak.

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"You kid, you really don't like to talk."

"Forget it, let me see your communication bracelet!"

Lin Mo nodded, took off the communication bracelet from his wrist, and handed it to Yuan Shoucheng.

"Everyone who goes out on a mission wears one, but besides real-time communication, this thing also automatically records the number and tier of Fierce Beasts you kill, as well as your performance in the mission."

He pointed to the numbers on the screen.

"You went out this time and killed a total of eighty-six Tier One Fierce Beasts, one Tier One Awakener, thirty-two Tier Two Fierce Beasts, two Tier Two Awakeners, and... three Third-Order Fierce Beasts?"

Lin Mo looked at the number, his expression unchanged.

Yuan Shoucheng continued:

"All these things will be converted into military merit."

"Eighty-six Tier One Fierce Beasts, averaging about 20 military merit each, that's over a thousand here."

"Thirty-two Tier Two, averaging 200 military merit each, that's over six thousand."

"Three Third-Order, averaging 2000 each, that's also around 6000..."

"It will be settled for you when we return to camp."

He paused and continued:

"This doesn't even count the missions you completed. Your detachment originally took a support mission, worth 2000 military merit. You also get extra rewards for rescuing the 18th Detachment later."

"Not bad, your harvest is likely even greater than your captain Wu Feng's. With so much military merit, you can exchange it for quite a few good things!"

Lin Mo's expression finally flickered.

Military merit? I wonder what good things I can exchange for.

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and suddenly asked:

"Did you open and look at that spatial ring of Zhou Xiong's?"

Lin Mo nodded.

"What's inside?"

"Some Fierce Beast materials, they should all be Tier Three or higher, probably taken from dozens of Fierce Beasts, and there are some healing potions, energy supplements, and things like that."

Yuan Shoucheng's eyes went wide as he listened.

"Dozens of Tier Three or higher Fierce Beast materials?"

"That old guy Zhou Xiong... he's really fucking generous," he muttered.

Lin Mo looked at him and didn't speak.

"Kid, do you know how much these things are worth?"

Lin Mo shook his head.

Yuan Shoucheng smiled.

"Materials from a Third-Order Fierce Beast average 5 million each. You have dozens of them, so how much do you think they're worth?"

Lin Mo's eyes finally lit up.

He looked at Lin Mo and suddenly smiled:

"What? Need money?"

Lin Mo thought for a moment:

"Yes."

Yuan Shoucheng laughed out loud.

"Good, if you need money, that's easy to handle," he patted Lin Mo's shoulder.

"When we get back to the stronghold, I'll introduce you to a merchant. That guy specializes in buying Fierce Beast materials, his prices are fair, and he won't rip you off."

Lin Mo nodded.

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him and suddenly lowered his voice:

"But kid, let me give you a piece of advice."

"Money is important, but it's far less valuable than military merit. Think about what you want to exchange for later, don't be stupid and save your money while hesitating to spend it; spend your military merit first!"

Lin Mo was silent for two seconds.

"Got it."

Yuan Shoucheng nodded and stood up.

"Alright, let's continue on our way."

Lin Mo turned to leave.

"Wait."

He turned back.

Yuan Shoucheng looked at him, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Finally, he spoke:

"That ring... the one Zhou Xiong gave you, besides what you just mentioned, is there anything... strange inside?"

Lin Mo thought about it and said:

"No."

Yuan Shoucheng stared at him for several seconds, then nodded.

"Alright, go ahead."

Lin Mo turned and left.

Yuan Shoucheng stood there, his brows slowly furrowing.

"Lao Wu," he suddenly called out.

A middle-aged man around forty years old walked out from the shadows nearby.

"Battalion Commander."

"Do you think this kid... has any problems?"

"What kind of problems? I don't see any. Are you overthinking it?"

"I mean, he's fine, but that ring of Zhou Xiong's..."

Yuan Shoucheng paused.

"I know that guy Zhou Xiong too well; he wouldn't give such a huge gift for no reason."

"I always feel he has ulterior motives."

...