Chapter 2619: Ten Minutes Head Start
Chapter 2619: Ten Minutes Head Start
"You want to add Corporal Yuan to my squad? Did I hear you correctly?" The Ironwoman asked with a surprised look on her face.
"I’m just asking since you have full authority over your squad members. He has more than enough talent. Hell, if we’re being honest, he’s even more talented than you."
Ironwoman shook her head and said, "This isn’t about talent alone. I admit that he is more talented than me—and everyone in my squad. However, his achievements are too lacking, and all he has on his record are some cleanup missions and two gathering missions. My squad specializes in extreme missions that most soldiers don’t even know exist."
"I am well aware of that, but give him some time. It hasn’t even been half a year since he joined. And although he started out slow, he’s been picking things up lately. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts doing missions in the Purple Zone within five years."
"When and if he gets to that point, I’ll consider it. But right now, he doesn’t qualify."
A few days have passed since Yuan started his second mission in the Red Zone, and just as before, he led his squad to a tunnel using his instincts as an excuse.
"We really found a tunnel... I will never doubt you again, Corporal Yuan!" said the squad leader, who refused to listen to Yuan in the beginning and needed some convincing.
"Then, as promised, we’ll clear the tunnel my way," Yuan said, as he’d made a bet with the squad leader on whether or not he’d find a tunnel.
"Of course. You’ll enter alone, and we’ll follow you after ten minutes."
"Good. Make sure to harvest any Unknown Crystals you see," Yuan reminded them before entering the tunnel alone.
Half a minute after Yuan disappeared into the tunnel, one of the soldiers asked, "Should we really let him go inside alone?"
"That’s what he wants."
"What if he dies? That would look terrible for the rest of us, regardless of whether it was his request or not."
"I heard that General Mei had personally recruited him. If he dies..."
"Relax. It’s only ten minutes. What the hell could he possibly do alone in such a short time?" said the squad leader.
Ten minutes later, the squad of six soldiers entered the tunnel.
"Looks like he cleaned up some of the Void Specters," one of the soldiers remarked when they traveled for half an hour without seeing a single Void Specter.
An hour later...
"I don’t think we’ll catch up to him if we keep moving at this pace. Let’s pick up the speed," the squad leader suggested, and the others readily agreed.
The squad immediately started running forward, though they remained vigilant as they advanced.
However, even after several hours of nonstop running—with only occasional stops to harvest nearby Unknown Ores—the soldiers still failed to catch up to Yuan.
"How much farther ahead is he?! And how the hell is he clearing the Void Specters while still maintaining such a lead?!"
The soldiers could hardly believe it.
"Doesn’t he wield a minigun? How does he even have enough energy to deal with so many Void Specters alone?"
"He’s quite famous for that, actually."
Three more days passed without them encountering a single Void Specter or catching even a glimpse of Yuan. By this point, their initial shock had transformed into awe, accompanied by a faint sense of fear toward his unfathomable capabilities.
"I can see the end of the tunnel!" The squad leader announced.
"He’s not here, either! Don’t tell me that he went to face the Void Guardian alone?!"
The soldiers were expecting Yuan to wait for them at the end of the tunnel before facing the Void Guardian together.
"I underestimated his arrogance and recklessness! Let’s hurry and hope he isn’t dead already!"
The soldiers quickly steeled themselves before leaping into the hole and descending toward the chamber where the Void Guardian awaited.
When they finally emerged into the chamber, they expected to find Yuan locked in a fierce battle with the Void Guardian—or the creature alone after having already killed him.
What none of them expected, however, was to see Yuan standing there by himself, with the Void Guardian nowhere in sight.
"W-What’s going on? Where’s the Void Guardian?" The soldiers surveyed the chamber with dumbfounded expressions.
"Don’t tell me there was no Void Guardian..." one of the soldiers muttered.
"A tunnel without a Void Guardian? That’s never happened before."
"What happened, Corporal Yuan? Was the place already empty when you arrived?" the squad leader asked, turning to Yuan—the only person who could explain what had occurred.
"The Void Guardian? There was one, but I defeated it right before you all arrived," he responded in a calm voice, acting like what he’d done was nothing out of the ordinary.
"YOU WHAT?!"
The soldiers exclaimed simultaneously, their eyes popping out of their sockets in shock.
"Y-You defeated a Void Guardian... all by yourself?" the squad leader muttered in a daze.
As difficult as it was to believe Yuan, there was no other plausible explanation. A Void Guardian had never been absent while the chamber still contained Unknown Crystals, especially when it remained filled with them, as if nobody had touched them.
Eventually, the soldiers snapped out of their daze and harvested the Unknown Crystals while Yuan rested.
"We’re done."
The squad gathered by Yuan some time later.
"Alright. Let’s leave."
Yuan did not need to absorb the Eternal Essence since he’d already done so long before they arrived at the scene.
After they returned to the military base, Yuan asked them, "Since we’re already here, want to go on another mission?"
The soldiers could only stare at him in silence, looking like they’d just heard something absurd.
"Even if you’re being serious... I am mentally exhausted and need to rest."
"Me too."
The soldiers politely declined Yuan’s offer before going their separate ways.
Yuan didn’t mind and calmly made his way to the mission hall again.