"Huh? Expedition to a forest?"
I was puzzled as to what that had anything to do with us, but Jun Hai beckoned me out of my temporary room.
"Over here. I'll explain the details."
As we sat in the living room, he brought up his computer screen and showed me the mission details on the monitor. While I scrolled down, skimming through the text, Jun Hai continued with his explanation.
"Even though the research department mainly deals in marine biology, there has been a recruitment request for people to check out a river deep inside one of the Scandinavian forests. Apparently, they found an ancient lake that might be filled with prehistoric spirit beasts." He paused and stared at me, looking a little uncertain. "There are also…rumors that several of the Saurian spirit beasts that you encountered in Yggdrasil, the ones led by an Earth ranked warrior, might have escaped into the wild and are roaming the area."
"So I have to clean up the mess." I scratched my head. "Whoops, sorry."
"Maybe they'll also be calling Sigmund to help out," Myria suggested, dropping on the couch next to me.
"I don't know who else is taking up the request, but the reason why the marine biology department is so interested in the lake isn't simply because of the spirit beasts they might find there." Jun Hai sighed. "Apparently, we were requested by an archaeologist expeditionary team to help out because they found ruins next to the lake. They wanted to conduct a survey on how the close proximity of the lake and marine life might have affected the ruins. You know, like level of moisture, the mold and fungus growing on the walls, the kind of life that might have developed inside the ruins. All that."
"Oh. So it's more that they want us to protect the teams while they search and study the ruins than because they want us to clean up the mess left behind by Ricowen and the dark elves."
"I believe so. I don't think anyone is blaming the adventurers for the saurian spirit beasts escaping to the wild. If anything, now that they are free of any malignant influence and control, they aren't bothering anybody. The paleontologists are having a field day with them. Not our field, though."
Jun Hai shrugged. I nodded. Mom was a marine biologist, and while we loved dinosaurs, neither Jun Hai nor I had the expertise to study them. Best to leave them to actual paleontologists. I was better at hunting and killing stuff than I was at researching them.
"All right, let's do it."
"What?! Big bro, at least ask what rewards they are offering first!" Silvia objected.
"Money isn't important," Sylvie countered. "If there are people who needs help, we should volunteer to the best of our ability."
"I…I mean, sure, big sis, but we should at least get some benefits out of it for all the trouble!"
Man, but the two fairy sisters were as different from each other as night and day. Despite their bickering, I could tell that they really treasured each other. There was no air of hostility between them, just a friendly back and forth despite their disagreement.
"Sorry, big bro," Jun Hai apologized. "This being a scientific expedition, I don't think they have the funds to offer lucrative contracts. They will be as generous as they can be, but it won't be as much as, say, the Yggdrasil request."
"No problem. I'll still go."
"Thanks, that will be a great help. I'll also be using this chance to test out the new skills I've learned under sis-in-law, Sylvie and Silvia, but it'll be a great help if you're present too. In case anything unexpected happens."
"Sure." I glanced at them. "You guys coming along?"
"I'll follow you wherever you go," Sylvie said immediately.
"Do you even need to ask?" Silvia scoffed.
"Hmm…" Myria, on the other hand, paused and shook her head. "I think I'll be going to the beach instead. There's some disturbance in the Scandinavian sea, so I'm going to check out the area there. Sorry. I'll be sitting this one out."
"No worries, have fun and be careful. Don't do anything reckless out in the sea." Myria was her own person and had her own preferences and life. It wasn't as if her whole world revolved only around me. If she felt that the Scandinavian sea required investigation, then by all means, I would support her.
"You too. I know you have the tendency to overdo it." Myria looked at me sternly. She turned to Sylvie and Silvia. "You girls should take care of him. You too, Jun Hai."
"Okay, sis-in-law."
And so, we set off the next day, joining up with the expeditionary team. To my surprise, aside from the core group of scientists and researchers, the main strength of the team was comprised of military soldiers. Mostly mercenaries and paramilitary organizations, all armed with carbines and rifles instead of the more fantasy type weapons that adventurers carried.
They weren't emanating a lot of qi or mana, so I could tell that they weren't exactly the same as adventurers. That was the term I was using to call all the mages, warriors, cultivators, priests, shamans and more, because…quite frankly, I didn't know what was a better catchall term. Um, hunters? Nah.
I wasn't a Solo Summoner, after all.
"What are you doing here?" one of the soldiers asked menacingly, glaring at me. He was wearing a wide brimmed hat, sported a thick mustache and burly muscles that bulged from underneath a sleeveless vest. I wasn't sure why the hell he was carrying a minigun, but then I recalled about the saurian spirit beasts that had escaped into the wilderness.
"He's my brother, and he's part of the security team," Jun Hai said.
"What? Him?" The mustached soldier threw his head back and laughed. "He looks like he'll break just from a gust of wind."
"He's a cultivator…an adventurer." Jun Hai shook his head. "I don't think you should underestimate him."
"Oh? Really?" The soldier snorted. He leaned close to me, but I didn't back off. Even then, he scoffed. "I don't care who or what you are, but you had best not get in the way of our work. I don't want to have to worry about babysitting some reckless, cocksure amateur while being attacked by spirit beasts and monsters."
"Understood." I pushed my glasses up my nose and nodded. I could hear the rage from beyond the fourth dimension as keyboard warriors called me a spineless beta loser just because I wasn't some immature kid rising to provocation and getting into pointless fights. So what if he insulted me? Was I supposed to beat him up? What would that prove, other than that I was just a bully who couldn't control myself?
Cultivation wasn't just about accumulating strength and training oneself to become stronger. It was also about discipline and improvement of one's spirituality and character. It appeared that in the greed to reach the pinnacle of power, so many people forgot about the most important aspect – character development – and got drunk on their arrogance. And now these keyboard warriors from beyond the fourth dimension thought that all Chinese were arrogant or power hungry. It was...insulting, though I didn't blame them for it, especially when their only contact with Chinese culture was through these trashy web novels.
Like, seriously, there were so many other genres of Chinese literature to read – science fiction and mystery (read the Wei Si Li novels by Ni Kuang, for example) – but somehow all these readers only gorged themselves on power fantasy wish fulfilment cultivation novels and manhuas and thought this specific singular genre was representative of all of Hua Xia.
And don't get me started on the toxic CEO novels and manhuas…
Anyway, I watched the soldiers proceed in a staggered formation, using hand signals as they weaved through the forest. By now, we had left human civilization behind and were setting foot in the wilderness, bashing through shrubs and striding under huge trees that were as tall as buildings, their leaves stretched and shrouded the entire area in shadow, with faint sunlight trickling through tiny gaps, resembling roofs. Birds flitted from branch to branch, and reptiles stalked through the foliage. Huge bugs scuttled along the thick trunks, their proboscis penetrating the bark so that they could feed on sap. The grass were tall and broad, resembling ferns rather than grass, growing out of the fertile soil to carpet the entire region in lush, verdant vegetation.
I spotted a few Twig Turtles and Grove Turtles walking in herds, escorted by a couple of titanic Terra Tortoises who literally had small forests growing atop their armored shells. Thunder lizards and seismic lizards reached up to the skyscraper-tall trees with their long necks to pluck leaves out of pillar-sized branches. There was a cry when a stray Iguana Dino was picked off by a pack of Velocity Raptors, but fortunately for us, the predators left us alone for now.
Even so, a few of the mercenaries kept their rifles up and aimed at the spirit beasts, on high alert. Despite their arrogance, they were consummate professionals. They might not have spells or techniques or supernatural skills, but they were still deadly killers capable of hunting spirit beasts with the most advanced technology that humanity had to offer.
"Contact!"
One of the mercenaries yelled, swiveling around and squeezing the trigger of his shotgun. A Velocity Raptor shrieked as it was blown back, and suddenly the whole thing turned into pandemonium. A pack had been creeping upon our position, making use of the tall ferns to conceal their silhouettes.
However, they ended up facing a team of highly trained mercenaries who constantly kept in touch with each other to ensure no one fell behind. Rifles barked and bullets sprayed into the foliage, hammering the Velocity Raptors back. The mustached fella bellowed in glee as he hefted his minigun up, the belt of ammunition chugging and sucked into the mechanics of the weapon as its spinning barrel spat out a steady stream of shells that disintegrated an entire clearing. A Velocity Raptor was shredded apart by thousands of rounds that were pumped out in less than a minute, and even the Yellow ranked spirit beast was no match for the sheer firepower.
But there was a reason why the world's military hadn't prevailed despite all the technology and weapons they had.
The Velocity Raptor that had been knocked back by the shotgun was back on its feet, wounded and bleeding but still very much alive. It howled before pouncing on the guy, who promptly blasted it back with another shotgun blast. His teammates covered him, training the barrels of their carbines and unleashing a hail of bullets, finally tearing apart the creature in their combined fusillade.
Unfortunately, the pack of Velocity Raptors numbered more than those two, and the rest were agilely dodging the storm of bullets, melting back into the vegetation and slinking away.
"Switch to thermals!" The mustached dude ordered, and they snapped their visors over their eyes, tracking the creatures. One of them raised a hand.
"Over here!"
The mercenaries put out another coordinated volley into the direction he was pointing in, and there was another screech of agony. While they were focused on that, though, a trio of Velocity Raptors burst out of the foliage behind them and pounced on the unsuspecting soldiers.
However, these were no amateurs. They were a highly trained unit who had survived many battlefields. The rearguard was quick to react, their shotguns and rifles roaring, the muzzles flaring as they hurled pellets and bullets at the Velocity Raptors. Two of them spun, blood oozing from their armored scales and feathery skins, before they scrambled away quickly, but one of them managed to brush past their hail of bullets to latch onto the closest soldier before he could adjust his aim and bring his shotgun to bear.
It never reached him.
My Azure Dragon lashed out and I separated the head and claws of the Velocity Raptor from its body, sending the snapping jaws and disembodied talons hurtling away from the torso that was spilling blood. The dead beast dropped like a rock, twitching haplessly before I stamped down on it. Even before it convulsed one last time, I was already pointing my sword into the foliage. An azure beam lanced out of my blade before piercing through one of the fleeing Velocity Raptors, freezing it totally.
"T…thanks," the mercenary who I had just saved breathed.
"Over here!" Sylvie called out, waving them back to the aegis that she and Silvia had just conjured. A shimmering barrier had already manifested around the frightened team of researchers, all of whom were clutching their equipment and looking around nervously. On the other hand, Jun Hai had come forward, getting ready to cast a spell. Evidently, he had learned well from the fairy sisters.
With a flick of his hand, he sent a fireball racing into the ferns. There was a scream and one of the Velocity Raptors fell out, its silhouette ablaze. It fell in spasms as the flames continued to devour its form, and Jun Hai exhaled in relief before glancing at his hands, which continued to glow with qi.
"I did it…"
"Good job," I told him with a grin before turning my attention back to the surroundings. "But keep it up. I don't think we're done just yet."