GA: Chapter 194 – War Between an Era and Between Races
Like right now—in his line of sight, a ten-person squad. Seven of the members showed almost no spiritual qi fluctuation whatsoever, clearly with very ordinary aptitude. And yet there they were, rifles in hand, working in coordination with the others to clear out mutant creatures.
They were bravely facing the possibility of death, stepping onto this ground. Could it really be that all they were after was money?
Before the spiritual qi revival, they hadn't chosen to become mercenaries in unstable regions for the sake of profit. So why would they now?
That ruled out financial motivation.
Just as Qin Tian was thinking this, noise drifted over from the mercenary squad in the distance.
"Move move move—Old Zhao, finish it off!"
"Hahahaha, boys we wiped the whole pack—just hearing the gun go da-da-da-da is so satisfying!"
"Massive haul today. When we get back let's all go get a massage, soak our feet—hahahaha."
"The real thing beats any game, just everyone only gets one life."
"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter—how does that saying go? Nothing ventured, nothing gained?"
"A half-decent cut of mutant beast is worth thousands per jin now. One kill and you're set for days. If I die I'll get another life next time around, but if I die broke I'll never forgive myself this life."
"Next time we buy more grenades and artillery—pricey, sure, but the results speak for themselves!"
"…"
The group chatted excitedly as they divided up their kill, a few members keeping sharp watch over the surroundings against any mutant beasts drawn by the smell of blood.
Qin Tian listened to them and fell silent.
Reality was a little different from what he'd imagined.
Though it didn't particularly matter. As long as they were fighting mutant creatures—that was what counted. This kind of situation was exactly what they hoped for: a nation of fighters. Even with limited individual power, through technology and strategy they could still exert tremendous force. And when danger struck, they managed to keep their basic composure.
"If things keep developing this way—can we recover the peace we had before the revival within ten years?"
Qin Tian murmured to himself, imagining the Earth as it might someday be.
"Highly unlikely. This is a war between an era and between entire races. To imagine ending it within ten years—are you underestimating the strength of humanity and every other species, or are you underestimating the era itself?"
A voice arrived without warning. His pupils contracted. Instinctively, the Blazing Dragon Armor enveloped him and a dragon forged of flame launched toward the direction of the sound.
No sensing at all. If not for that voice, he wouldn't have detected the presence.
"That kind of passive reflex at this level—I don't recall there being any mutant creatures on Earth today that would condition you to develop a habit like that."
"Being cautious is good. Though after completing a reaction like that, not lingering and immediately withdrawing is the most reliable way to stay safe."
A calm voice accompanied a jade-white finger lightly touching the void. Space shimmered faintly in response. Qin Tian's fire dragon dissolved into it—scattering into individual particles of crimson light.
The figure stepped into view.
"Bai Xuan?"
Qin Tian blinked, then released the Blazing Dragon Armor's transformation. His body relaxed without him consciously deciding to.
His trust in Bai Xuan, it seemed, ran deep.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Collecting ingredients."
Bai Xuan said it casually.
After sampling Xiaodangjiā's cooking, he had reached an arrangement with him—a trade involving mutant beast meat and culinary skill. Bai Xuan supplied the ingredients; Xiaodangjiā turned them into dishes and transmitted them to him. As compensation, one-tenth of the ingredients belonged to Xiaodangjiā.
Xiaodangjiā had initially refused any payment—for him, the opportunity to work with ingredients he had never encountered before was reward enough.
But just because he didn't want payment didn't mean Bai Xuan could withhold it.
Even restaurants charged a service fee. It was just some ingredients. No need for excessive formality.
"Ingredients?"
Qin Tian paused, then quickly understood. The ingredients Bai Xuan was referring to were these mutant creatures.
After all, Bai Xuan's strength was what it was. Even the most powerful mutant creatures on Earth, to him, were simply better-tasting food.
But still—
"Couldn't you just go through Huoyou for that?"
"And why are you in the Imperial Capital? If anything you'd go to Hangcheng."
"The grade of ingredients there is too low. Hangcheng's been pretty thoroughly swept by me already. Though I left some of the higher-aptitude ones there for your side—temporarily."
Bai Xuan said it with mild resignation.
For reasons he couldn't entirely explain, he and Angel Yan had ended up doing some rather childlike things together during that period—not just Pokémon battles, but multiple campfire gatherings as well.
The small world had plenty of fruits and vegetables—even if they ate everything, it would regrow in a couple of days.
But mutant beast meat required actually hunting.
Huoyou could supply it, but he didn't want to keep troubling her.
So during that stretch of time, the mutant creature population near Hangcheng had thinned somewhat—mostly the mutant pythons, wild boar, and wild rabbits—though this had no meaningful impact on the overall mutant creature numbers.
Setting aside actual strength, the total number of mutant creatures was staggeringly high. A major contributing factor was also that the more powerful mutant creatures had been progressively hunted by Bai Xuan.
The stronger they were, the more spiritual qi they contained—and the better they tasted.
But unlike ordinary mutant creatures, the most powerful ones also tended to have exceptional natural aptitude.
Just as First and Second Sequence ability users were rare among humans—the same held true among mutant creatures.
Around Hangcheng, aside from a few high-aptitude mutant creatures of different species that Bai Xuan had deliberately preserved, the more powerful ones had largely been hunted down by him and Yan.
He was planning to start raising some mutant creatures in the small world—otherwise, at the rate he and Yan and the Pokémon went through food, no wild population would ever be enough.
Technically, at their level, neither he nor Yan needed food to generate energy anymore.
But the desire for food was an entirely different matter from energy intake.
The dual satisfaction of taste and spirit—no one could refuse that.
"That…"
Qin Tian heard Bai Xuan's words and couldn't quite find a response. Complaining that the ingredient quality was too low essentially meant those mutant creatures were too weak.
Which was, if he was honest, accurate.
To Bai Xuan, ordinary mutant creatures were no different from ants—easily dispatched.
This was a gap in power.
But the more significant part was what came after: "some of the higher-aptitude ones I've left for your side for now." If Bai Xuan considered them high-aptitude—they were probably somewhere around the same tier as himself and the others. Or weaker, but still at least Second Sequence.
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