60: Chapter 60 A group of Martial Kings led a Martial Emperor out to collect trash.

When Li Zhengyang arrived at the entrance of the Command Center.

Zhao Yi was already standing there, with five other people beside him.

Three men and two women, ranging in age from twenty-five to forty, all wearing uniform combat suits.

The aura fluctuations on each of them were at the Martial King level, of varying ranks, with the highest being about a Seventh-Rank Martial King.

Seeing Li Zhengyang approach, Zhao Yi waved.

"Come over, let me introduce everyone. The Seventh Squad, currently six people plus me. Today, we're taking you outside the wall to get familiar with the situation."

The team members' gazes all landed on Li Zhengyang at once.

A Buzz-cut Strongman spoke first: "Is this the new guy? He looks quite green."

A female martial artist with a ponytail beside him glanced at Li Zhengyang, her attention focused on that dusty dragon tooth spear.

"Captain Zhao, are you sure this guy can go outside the wall? That spear of his... did he pick it up from a junkyard?"

Li Zhengyang ignored her and looked at Zhao Yi: "Which area are we going to today?"

Zhao Yi pulled up a holographic map from his wrist and pointed to a red-marked area.

"Area C7 outside the wall, about thirty kilometers from the barrier. This area was cleared once last month, but a new colony of Sixth-Rank demonic beasts was recently detected migrating in, estimated to be ten in number."

"Our mission is to scout and confirm the number, and clean up whatever we can along the way. If we encounter anything above Seventh-Rank, don't force a fight; mark the coordinates and retreat."

"What about the bonus?" Li Zhengyang asked.

Zhao Yi was stunned for a moment: "The recycling price for a Sixth-Rank beast core is 500,000 each, and 2,000,000 for a Seventh-Rank one. Whoever kills it gets the credit."

"If it's a team effort, we split it evenly."

"Split evenly?"

"Yes, split among seven people."

It's alright, I guess.

But the efficiency is still low.

Splitting one pot of rice among seven people is not as good as eating alone.

He didn't voice this thought for now.

It's his first time outside the wall, so he should see how things go first.

"Let's go."

Zhao Yi waved his hand.

The exit of the barrier was directly north of the base, a twenty-meter-high alloy gate.

There was an electromagnetic turret on each side of the gate.

Zhao Yi swiped his tactical watch at the verification console in front of the gate, and the gate slowly rose.

The moment the gate opened, a gust of murky wind rushed in.

Li Zhengyang stepped over the threshold of the gate and onto the land outside the wall.

There was no green in sight.

The wasteland extended to the horizon, with pits and cracks of all sizes scattered across the ground.

In the distance, there were several broken ridges, and the rocks on the mountainsides showed an abnormal dark purple color.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the air was several times higher than inside the wall, but there were also many impurities, mixed with a kind of uncomfortable restlessness.

"Get used to it."

Zhao Yi said from the front, "The spiritual energy outside the wall is quite chaotic, and newcomers often get dizzy their first time. Just take a few deep breaths and you'll be fine."

Li Zhengyang didn't feel anything.

With his Martial Emperor Rank body, this little bit of impurity wasn't even enough to get stuck in his teeth.

With Zhao Yi at the point, the team advanced northward.

They were fast; the running speed of seven Martial Kings was not much slower than a military aircraft.

Thirty kilometers, twenty minutes.

The terrain of Area C7 was different from the outer perimeter.

There were many more bones on the ground, stark white and of varying sizes.

Some were clearly the remains of demonic beasts, while others... were closer in shape to humans.

Zhao Yi raised his hand, and the team stopped.

"Spread out, two people per group, scout a range of five hundred meters. Do not make contact alone if you find a target; report via communicator."

"Li Zhengyang, you come with me."

The others dispersed in pairs and disappeared into the gray fog.

Zhao Yi led Li Zhengyang about three hundred meters to the northeast.

The broken bones underfoot became more and more numerous.

"Quiet."

Zhao Yi suddenly lowered his body.

Li Zhengyang's perception had already reached out.

Every movement within a five-hundred-meter radius was entirely in his mind.

Two hundred meters directly ahead.

Three auras.

Sixth-Rank.

"Three of them." Li Zhengyang said.

Zhao Yi looked back at him and nodded.

He had also detected them, but half a beat slower than Li Zhengyang.

"What species?"

"I don't know."

Li Zhengyang told the truth.

He had only killed Fourth and Fifth-Rank ones inside the wall, and had only seen those two at Black Wind Pass which were Sixth-Rank.

"Let me see."

Zhao Yi took out a small observation scope and looked out along the edge of a rock.

"Dark Rock Beast. Mid-Sixth-Rank, adept at burrowing, thick-skinned, with weaknesses in the abdomen and eyes."

Zhao Yi put away the observation scope and pressed the communicator.

"All groups pay attention, three Dark Rock Beasts have been found to the northeast, Mid-Sixth-Rank, prepare to surround them."

Confirming replies came from each group over the communicator.

Zhao Yi turned to look at Li Zhengyang: "It's your first time outside the wall, stay behind me and watch how we fight. Once you're familiar with the rhythm, you can take a turn."

Li Zhengyang nodded.

He wanted to see what kind of level this group's efficiency was really at.

Three minutes later, the encirclement was complete.

Seven people approached the three Dark Rock Beasts from different directions.

The Dark Rock Beasts looked like rhinos magnified ten times, their entire bodies covered in gray-black rocky shells, their four short, thick legs embedded deep into the ground.

Zhao Yi made a gesture.

The attack began.

The Buzz-cut Strongman rushed out first, a double-edged battle axe in his hand, filled with Qi, hacking toward the nearest Dark Rock Beast.

Boom!

The battle axe struck the Dark Rock Beast's back armor, sparks flew, and a shallow mark was left on the shell.

The Dark Rock Beast roared, its huge body turning suddenly, its four legs kicking the ground, and the horn on its head rammed forward.

The strongman dodged, and the ponytail woman followed closely, cutting in from the flank, her short blade slashing across the underside of the Dark Rock Beast's abdomen.

This set of coordination was very practiced.

But the efficiency...

Li Zhengyang watched from the side, his brows slightly furrowed.

Three Dark Rock Beasts; it took nearly half an hour to finish off two of them.

The third one saw that things were going badly and burrowed underground; Zhao Yi chased it for a while but couldn't catch up, and cursed.

"Damn it, it ran away again."

Half an hour, three Dark Rock Beasts, two beast cores obtained.

And they still had to be split among seven people.

This didn't even count the time for resting and adjusting.

Li Zhengyang glanced at the timer on his watch.

Too slow.

Over the next two hours, the team found two more groups of Dark Rock Beasts.

One group of four, one group of two.

The fighting style was similar to before: surround, wear down, kill.

Each wave took ten to fifteen minutes.

And a few ran away in the process.

Li Zhengyang looked up at the sky.

Too slow.

Zhao Yi came over: "How is it? First time outside the wall, feeling okay, right?"

"Captain Zhao."

"Hm?"

"I have a suggestion."

Zhao Yi nodded: "Go ahead."

"I'll operate on my own this afternoon."

Zhao Yi was stunned for a moment.

The few team members nearby also looked over.

"What do you mean?" The Buzz-cut Strongman wiped the beast blood off his axe, "You want to leave the team?"

"It's not leaving the team." Li Zhengyang took the spear off his back. "My combat rhythm doesn't really match yours."

The ponytail woman snorted coldly: "A newcomer wants to fly solo on his first day outside the wall? Do you know what the mortality rate for operating alone outside the wall is?"

"I know." Li Zhengyang glanced at her. "It has nothing to do with me."

Zhao Yi was silent for a few seconds.

He remembered that Li Zhengyang had the strength of a Martial Emperor Rank, First Grade.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure. For the afternoon hunt, my gains won't be part of the split. You hunt yours, I'll hunt mine."

Zhao Yi was silent for a while longer.

He made a decision.

"Fine. Keep the communicator on; call immediately if you encounter anything above Seventh-Rank. Meet at the gate at 6:00 PM."

"No problem."

Li Zhengyang slung his spear over his back and walked in the opposite direction from where the team had come.

Behind him, the ponytail woman's voice came over: "Captain Zhao, you're just letting him go like that? He's a newcomer..."

"Leave him be." Zhao Yi's voice was very low.

"Why?"

Zhao Yi didn't answer.

He watched Li Zhengyang's back getting further and further away, remembering the note he had received from Venerable Lei yesterday.

Martial Emperor Rank, First Grade.

Twenty years old.

For someone like this to be in a team with them would be a true waste.

After Li Zhengyang walked out of the team's line of sight, his pace suddenly accelerated.

At full speed, a Martial Emperor Rank could run three kilometers in one minute.

His perception range had expanded to several kilometers in radius at the Martial Emperor Rank.

Five Dark Rock Beasts were resting in a collapsed pit.

They hadn't detected anything unusual.

From the perspective of their perception, Li Zhengyang's speed had already exceeded their reaction limit.

Li Zhengyang landed on the edge of the pit, spear in hand, Qi and blood channeled in.

The dragon tooth spear let out a low hum.

The five Dark Rock Beasts felt the danger at the same time and woke up from their slumber.

Too late.

Li Zhengyang jumped into the pit.

One strike, piercing through the first one's eye socket, then pulling the spear out.

Then a sweep, the spear shaft striking the second one's abdomen, the rocky armor shattering, and its internal organs spilling out.

The third one had just turned around when the spear tip had already pierced in through its mouth and out the back of its head.

The fourth one tried to burrow underground.

Li Zhengyang stomped down, the ground within a ten-meter radius collapsed three meters directly, the Dark Rock Beast was shaken out of the ground, and before it could stand steady, it was nailed to the pit wall by a spear strike.

For the last one, Li Zhengyang threw his spear, a throw with the power of a Martial Emperor Rank.

The dragon tooth spear pierced from the Dark Rock Beast's tail to its head.

Five Sixth-Rank Dark Rock Beasts.

Less than six seconds from start to finish.

Li Zhengyang jumped down to retrieve his spear, then crouched beside the corpses to dig out the beast cores.

The small spatial storage function built into the tactical watch came in handy.

The watch was brought close to the beast core, it flashed, the beast core disappeared, and it was stored in the watch's micro-space.

Convenient.

Five beast cores obtained, 2,500,000.

"This is the efficiency that should be expected."