Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

The benefit of being all-around is that you can collect different gratitude from various perspectives.

Unfortunately, the energy gained from converting a person who originally had prejudices and from saving someone who already worshiped you is not the same.

In the eyes of the warriors who already worshiped and respected Bai E, it seemed that Bai E treating their wounds had become a "given."

So much so that the energy provided by all the injured warriors together was about the same as what Harold alone contributed.

["Lucky Strike" Energy Charge +7.]

Not bad, even after using it once, there was still another opportunity to use it.

Looking at the 136/100 energy value and the total of over eight thousand experience reserves, Bai E was content.

Indeed, every outing with a small group presented good performance opportunities for reaping energy, in contrast to large-scale battles where personal accomplishments were extremely limited.

"You should take a rest too."

The leaders of Squad 1 and Squad 2 came together, standing behind Bai E who had just finished treating the last warrior, and softly persuaded him.

For such an all-around and unbelievably strong warrior, they had completely given up any thought of contending with him.

As naturally born humans, they knew more of the unwritten rules within the military camp than the artificial humans—

Perhaps it was hard for artificial humans to climb to the real top layers of the hierarchy, but there were quite a few positions for mid to low-level officers in the military that artificial humans could reach.

It probably wouldn't be long before this newly created artificial human could climb to a higher position than theirs, by which time they would only be looking up and taking orders...

"Hmm," Bai E complied obediently and walked to the side to sit down, without showing the slightest hint of arrogance for his achievements.

In fact, he wasn't tired at all...

The traits of the beastman—the photosynthesis, although dormant, was still somehow effective to a certain extent, just like the previous traits of the Bug Race, it was still vaguely working, just not at full capacity.

Under the warm sunshine in the sky, Bai E could see that his stamina reserves had recovered by more than ten points during this period.

I've become a solar battery...

As skills that require stamina reserves become more and more necessary, the storage of this energy was becoming insufficient.

Just like earlier, a full reserve of stamina only supported him in shooting three arrows. If there had been more beastmen, they might have really been in trouble.

And now, there was another way to recover stamina reserves aside from eating, which was a cause for celebration.

"Where did you get that archery skill?" Big Mountain asked with excitement in his voice.

The teammates gathered around; besides Tiger, the other three hadn't exerted much effort during the short battle and were still full of energy.

"I was taught by that lady of the Elf Race after coming down from the Bug Race battlefield?"

Song Ying couldn't help but exclaim with admiration, "That's amazing..."

His talent was related to shooting, and he envied such shooting-related skills.

Bai E remained silent.

Teach? Sorry.

This kind of instinctive operation, which was directly infused into the body by the panel, didn't have much knowledge to speak of, and if he were to teach, he would probably end up like Yue Ying.

Song Ying, without the player's system, was highly unlikely to learn it.

"They are starting the cars over there..." You timely changed the subject, pointing to the distance.

The beastmen were good people, not only delivering experience and traits but also bringing eight different styles of small cars.

The beastmen fleeing had no time to take care of their vehicles, and compared to their powerful bodies, these battered small cars couldn't block a torrent of bullets. If they wanted to drive away, they might not have been able to escape.

And now, these cars had become resources for humans.

How much water a barrel can hold depends on its shortest stave. The pace of the refugees was slow, mostly because they had to take care of the weakest among them—the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.

If cars could transport those groups, the speed of the return journey could undoubtedly be greatly increased.

"Clang clang clang~"

The sound of car engines starting could be heard from afar.

Hearing that sound, Bai E thought of the tractors he had ridden in the countryside when he was young.

The tractor, too, made the same sound after starting the engine with a crank—

"Clang clang clang~"

The increasingly enhanced perception attribute allowed Bai E to see the vibration of the car shell. Riding in it might indeed be even more shaky than in a tractor...

The bodies of the cars, composed of various specifications and colors of parts, were obviously pieced together by the beastmen from who knows how many discarded materials.

That they could still run was a miracle.

The warrior who successfully started the car looked overjoyed, "Seven of them are still usable!"

Carrying so many hefty beastmen in pursuit had exhausted the life of these small cars, and one of them was clearly beyond repair and immobile.

"Drain the fuel..." Squad Leader 1 turned his head and looked towards the group of refugees, "Ask if any of them know how to drive."

Seven cars, but obviously the soldiers couldn't drive.

First, there weren't enough drivers who knew how to drive, and second, they needed to stay on alert around the refugee convoy, which made driving inconvenient.

"Yes!"

A soldier replied briskly and then jogged toward the refugee convoy that had temporarily stopped for a rest.

"Does anyone here know how to drive?"

"I..."

"Me."

Immediately, a sea of hands, some firm and some trembling, were raised.

Before they were expelled from Oasis State Town, they each had their own lives.

In a group of more than four hundred people, finding seven drivers wasn't hard.

Once again, they embarked on their journey, a smooth sail throughout.

Without the urgent mission weighing on their minds from before, there was almost a leisurely appreciation of the scenery as they traveled.

This was the back of the city, far from the Bug Race nests.

In fact, if it weren't for a Bug Race nest near Blackwater City and the territories of two Machine Clans, Blackwater City would have been a paradise.

Not every city's surroundings are this hostile; because of this, elsewhere on the planet, many ordinary people are able to live a relatively comfortable life.

Blackwater City is the guardian of the vast lands that lie beyond it.

They traveled until dusk...

They traveled into the night...

The thunderous engines gradually came to a halt, and the refugees, whose buttocks were numb from the vibration, jumped off the seven cars at the first opportunity.

Orc technology, impact... whether it shocks the heart or not is not very clear, but the buttocks are definitely quite shocked.

Although there were stops along the way, a proper long rest was still necessary.

The place where they stopped was a small patch of city ruins; they took a slight detour to get here, as this was part of the planned route back to the city that had been arranged in advance.

It was foreseeable that the refugees would not be very efficient in their movements, and now, as the cold winds of the winter nights blew, those without much warm clothing might freeze through the night on the open plains and lose who knows how many more.

The ruins, although also devoid of resources, had buildings that hadn't completely collapsed, which could provide some shelter from the wind and rain.

This place must have been just a small town before the apocalypse, with buildings not very tall.

The marks of a past civilization were buried by time, and lush vines had long since covered the ruins, which were at most two or three stories tall.

Some plants stubbornly squeezed through the cracks of the concrete and limestone, and the grey-white cobwebs in the corners of buildings fluttered gently in the wind, their owners having long since disappeared.

Without human interference, everything would gradually return to its natural state over time.

The arrival of humans startled some small lizard-like creatures that scurried away in the shadows.

Some houses' floors had blackened marks where fires had once been lit, these relics of the past in the time of civilization's collapse having sheltered countless refugees with nowhere to go.

Bai E's fingers gently caressed the wall, under the unguarded erosion of the elements, the once indestructible wall crumbled like hardened tofu under a pinch.

An unexpected notification suddenly sounded in his mind—

["Notification: A small-scale 'ruin' discovered. Current exploration progress: 0.1%…"]

"emmmmm..."

"Bai E!" Dàshān called from a distance, "Over here! We'll sleep here tonight."

"You sleep first," Bai E waved his hand, feeling the blood in his body start to quicken.

An adventure in the quiet of the night... was the most beautiful fantasy a child had about the world many years ago.

To explore a brand new world and discover "treasures," whether useful or not.

This was one of the main gameplay features promoted by the game officials, favored by many players, including Bai E.

Watching Bai E's silhouette disappear into the darkness, Dàshān muttered absentmindedly, "That guy really doesn't know when to quit..."

You shook his head, "He's always been like this."

"He's always been like what?" Dàshān's eyes lit up, gossip eager, "What 'like that' has he always been?"

Bai E hadn't been on the team long, and most of that time hadn't been spent with his teammates.

The only two opportunities they had to go out on missions, the adversaries they faced were too frightening to imagine, leaving little room for fighting side by side and getting to know each other.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Song Ying calmly laid out his folding blanket, recalling the evening they met for the first time on patrol.

"Curious..." You explained softly.

It was about the attitude of the people coming from Black Street on the night he was born, and the camp departure permit requested during training the next day.

Bai E was always eager to know the outside world.

It had always been so, and it had never changed.

"Don't worry about him."

Now the youngest in terms of time of birth, Bai E was recognized as the strongest in the joint squad by a large margin, the all-around champ, so no need to worry about him.

"Here, take it." Song Ying walked over with his own blanket to two children who wanted to approach but didn't dare to come too close.

He remembered the children's names, one was Kiro Lan and the other was Morphie.

They were about the age of his own child, similarly bright and lively.

"Do you... Do you not need it?" the boy instinctively accepted the blanket, somewhat reluctant to accept the kindness.

"I'm not afraid of the cold," Song Ying said with a stern face, turning to leave.

"Um..."

"..." Song Ying quickened his step.

Walking away…

Kiro Lan withdrew her outstretched hand, a touch of regret on her face.

She wanted to ask what Bai E was up to…

"Sleep!" Song Ying, returning to his teammates, didn't give them a chance to ask and leaned against the wall, falling swiftly into slumber.

To seize every opportunity to rest and quickly recover energy is a skill every special forces soldier must master.

In the cold, silent night, only two pairs of glistening eyes watched in the direction where Bai E had vanished.

"What's the Guardian doing?" Kiro Lan asked curiously.

"We'll know if we go and see," Morphie, more proactive, suggested.

The two of them carefully surveyed their surroundings, and seeing that they weren't the focus of much attention, they tiptoed away cautiously...