136: Time Traveler, Cui Rang

Gu Qinghan's words made everyone at the table pause.

No one had voluntarily brought up this matter on the way here, as if there was some taboo.

Yang Tianci looked deeply at Gu Qinghan, sighed, and said, "Actually, this kind of thing you're only qualified to know once you officially join the Patrol Team, but seeing your performance, there's no harm in telling you.

To be honest, we don't know what that woman is, because the information we can see is a question mark.

Professionals can't see each other's information; only monsters and Mutated Creatures have visible information. You must have noticed this, right?"

Gu Qinghan nodded; he had already noticed this point.

Yang Tianci took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand and continued, "This kind of monster, neither human nor ghost, first appeared about a week after the game started.

Back then, maybe one would appear a week, but recently, these things are found in the residential area almost every few days.

Even Captain Huang has reported it to the higher-ups, and the response from above was just to kill them on sight and not ask any other questions."

Towards the end, his voice was very low, clearly indicating the secrecy of the matter.

Gu Qinghan's heart trembled slightly; from the other party's words, it wasn't hard for him to analyze a few things.

That is, the higher-ups of this Gathering Place know about these matters.

However, why is their reaction so calm?

"Don't overthink it. These things are not for us to manage. We are just small fries with three to four thousand combat power."

Yang Tianci glanced at Gu Qinghan and then slowly said, "In this world, countless people die every day. These people just look a bit creepy; you'll get used to it."

Gu Qinghan noticed that when he ate, he only touched half of the dishes; the other half remained untouched.

At the same time, he also noticed Kong Yan's peculiarity next to him.

This guy seemed to be constantly eating, but after Yang Tianci lowered his voice, the speed at which he chewed his food visibly slowed down.

He was paying attention to this information but did not show any curiosity.

This wasn't originally suspicious, but Gu Qinghan always felt that this guy was not a simple person either.

The most crucial point was the discipline and swiftness he displayed in his actions.

Even if he was deliberately trying to erase this habit, it would still inadvertently show through.

The ten-person team chatted casually, occasionally telling Gu Qinghan and the other person some Precautions in the Gathering Place, and soon finished lunch.

Yang Tianci took out a lunchbox that had some scratches but was very clean, and put all the untouched dishes into it.

He turned to He Jianan and said, "Old He, take them to find a place to rest. I'll be back for the afternoon patrol."

"Alright!"

He Jianan nodded, putting the remaining half of the steamed bun into his mouth bit by bit as a snack.

After Yang Tianci left, Kong Yan curiously asked a teammate next to him, "Where did the captain go? Why did he pack his food?"

He Jianan took over the conversation, humming, "The captain is taking the food back for his wife and daughter. Otherwise, why do you think he, as a captain, gets more food than us, and it's still so plain and dry."

Kong Yan opened his mouth, asking somewhat curiously, "He has a wife and daughter? Are his whole family in this Gathering Place?"

"Yes," He Jianan nodded, "but his wife lost an arm in a previous battle, and the whole family relies on the captain alone."

Kong Yan nodded, then stopped speaking.

Gu Qinghan looked in the direction Yang Tianci left, feeling a touch of emotion.

Such a person is fortunate because he still has his family by his side.

However, to some extent, his family might also become a leash holding him back...

"Do you have any news of Cui Rang recently? It feels like he has disappeared from Stone City lately."

In another Gathering Place in Stone City, several Professionals with somewhat tired faces sat at a table, conversing.

One woman, with slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, pondered for a moment and said with some annoyance, "Cui Rang's professional ability is too bizarre. What level of profession is a Time Walker, after all?"

The leading man glanced at her, hesitated, and said, "At first, we thought he was a special profession, but according to our communication with other military bases, this profession should be a legendary profession."

"A legendary profession? How could there be such a powerful ability?"

The rest of the people looked at the leading man in disbelief, their expressions showing confusion and bewilderment.

The leader also gave a wry smile, signaling everyone to quiet down before continuing, "Actually, I couldn't accept it at first either, but didn't your informants tell you that Cui Rang's Gathering Place has recently started recruiting new Professionals on a large scale?"

Everyone was stunned. After a few seconds, the woman who had spoken earlier opened her mouth in surprise: "You mean, he has some purpose in recruiting these people?"

The man nodded and said, "My people recently infiltrated their Patrol Team, and news just came in.

The strange people appearing there have become more and more frequent, and their people haven't reacted much.

According to a broadcast message from another military region, in one of their Gathering Places, there is a Professional who can gain powerful strength by creating these strange people.

If I'm not mistaken, Cui Rang should have the same goal."

A man with a neatly trimmed beard sat up in disbelief, frowning, "Impossible, right? So many people turning into those things, even if he's powerful, he can't control them, can he?"

"That's why he's recruiting so many new people. Experimenting in batches, he's bound to create a few obedient strange people, isn't he?

As for the failures, killing them probably has no impact.

Anyway, in this guy's eyes, human lives are probably just a number."

After hearing the leader's explanation, everyone fell silent.

After a long while, someone among them finally spoke again, asking, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Infiltrate more people into the Time Settlement and try to gather as much detailed information about their plans as possible.

Once we are sure we can capture Cui Rang, we will act from both inside and outside to prevent more casualties.

After all, his Gathering Place should now have at least twenty thousand innocent Professionals.

According to the instructions from above, anyone who can create these strange people will possess extremely powerful destructive abilities.

We must not let him erupt in a crowded place. We only have one chance."

"But isn't the pressure from this large gate of calamity here too great? The frequency of monsters appearing here is getting higher and higher."

The leading man rubbed his temples, saying with a headache, "See if we can contact the other few Gathering Places in Stone City and ask them to join in to help fight against this gate of calamity.

At worst... promise them potential item rewards that might drop later."